Team-building Exercises Unite First-year Class

Because the profession of veterinary medicine requires people skills just as much as medical and animal-handling skills, a group of students conducted several team-building exercises during the freshman orientation program on August 25. Led by Julia Brannan, VM-3, and Ed Susmilch, VM-2, more than a dozen returning students facilitated such group tasks as navigating blindfolded through a clutch of trees, using ropes to maneuver a student clinging to an A-frame made of two-by-fours, and moving a large group from one platform to another without touching the ground. The exercises established trust, communication, and teamwork among the new students.