fundraising up date

It is confirmed that we will have another group meeting on Thursday. We will be meeting with Rachel/Jared to discuss our medical forms, logistics, and possibly how to begin an expedition plan. Hopefully, we can also touch down on where we are financially, I know right now we are slightly behind the 8 ball. Additionally, we have decided to forgo the grant meeting. After doing some research on the criteria for receiving a grant,we decided it would not be worth the effort for something that probably wont work out. The Alumni association doesn't even make the announcement as to who receives the award until November, which in our case we will have already been skydiving.

I have since email Rachel and will hopefully have a group meeting orgazined for october second at 8.30pm. Hopefully during this meeting we will finalize logistics, transportation, necessary paperwork and other expedition deatils. At this point, we should all be committed to the adventure, so the only things left to discuss are food and clothing. We need to get together as a group again and checkin to see where we are at for fundraising.

expedition check-in

We still need to meet with our outdoor ed rep for forms etc. We have yet to collect bottles for this week, so hopefully we can rally and collect more bottles today. We cant afford for our fundraising efforts to loose momentum.

On a different note, I am still working on an adventure definition. This past weekend I went on an adventure to a festival the celebrates climbing, culture, and conservation. While there were some logistical snags, and the weather was terrible, it was still an adventure. A weekend spent in the back of a compact SUV combined with good music and friends sounds good to me. This is precisley why adventure is difficult to define, There were so many variables that influenced the outcome of this endeavor. Quinn Said: "Without question, when complete confidence and competence reign, adventure cannout exist."

I was not sure of the logisitcs. However, I have been camping before and I had confidence in that aspect of the trip.

Source:

Quinn, W. (Date Unavailable) The Essence of Adventure. The Social Psychology of adventure programming, 149-151

Noreaster

What an adventure! althought the weather for the noreaster was absoluteley terrible, we were soked the entire time and the food wasnt great, it was still fun. All the bands were really good, especially this new one called Rustic overtones. However according to Ewerts Guide to adventure programming, some elements of this adventure were overlooked.

1. finances:

Make sure you have the money and people are definately commited before you buy tickets.

2. transportation:

ensure that the group has adequate transportation for the duration of the event, and that no one has to leave early. If someone has to leave early, bring another car.

3. Unforseen mishaps:
makesure all members are present before you leave, that way you dont have to drive 2 hours out of your way to find them.

Other than that it was a good time, save for the weather.

Adventure Definition: is there one?

Personally, I believe a concrete definiton of adventure is relativley difficult to come across. Although we have generally agreed upon as a group that adeventure is "any activity that puts a person willingly outside of their comfort zone; it is contingent upon the person," if you conisder everything that could qulaify as an adventure for anybody, almost any definition has holes in it. For example, this weekend I am going to a 3-day festival that celebrates conservation, climbing and music. We will be camping in an open campground, and I am considering it an adventure. However, I have been camping many times, and the only way if will take me outside of my comfort zone is if it ends up raining the whole time. The problem in Ascertaining this definition is that it is contigent upon so many things: the person, the environment, the activity, etc. Quinn states that adventure "lies deeply within ones self, within the spiritual, emotional, and intellectual spheres of personhood. (Quinn 150)" It is with this statement I believe Quinn is trying to convey that fact that what is and what is not an adeventure lies within the individual. Based on this I will try to come up with a personal definiton of adventure. To me adventure is a break from the normal world, an activity in which you cannot be bothered (i.e. cell phone, etc.), it is when you are at peace with oneself, generally this is outside or in this wilderness. *

* This is a rough definition, that will most likley under-go frequent revisions as I come across new expericenes, materials, thoughts, etc. I would also like to note, that Quinn also states that adventure generally results in self-knowledge discovery, which I think represent a signifigant psycological aspect of this subject.

Source:

Quinn, W. (Date Unavailable) The Essence of Adventure. The Social Psychology of adventure programming, 149-151

Brief History of Skydiving

Believe it or not, parachutes in general go back thousands of years. Both Da Vinci and the Chinese are credited with coming up with the intial concept. However, it was during the 18th century in France that parachutes were actually used. In 1797, the first drop was made by Andre Jacques Garnerin. Made of silk and supported by internal supports, the chief material of this parachute was silk, which still is still the main material parachutes are made of today.
Skydiving as a sport however, did not fully come into being until early 20th century (after the Wright brothers flight). Pilots were not even equipped with parachites until the mid 1920s, when it was deemed necessary to a pilot to abandon his craft if necessay. Althought it was not recognized by the Federation Aeronautique Internationale (World Air Sports Federation) as an aeronautical sport until the 1950s, it is now the largest aeronautical sport recognized by the FAI.



Source:
(2008). History of Skydiving. Retreived September 23rd, 2008. From British Parachute Organization. Web Site http://www.bpa.org.uk/history.htm

planning

Our trip to the UNH Browne center proved to be a good team building experience, Id like to think I can trust the people who are holding the rope while I jump throuhg the air.

Finally, our expedition is beginning to take momentum. We have started our bottle drive, and we were met with much success, just in one day we must have collected over 500 bottles. Additionally, # of us will be attending a meeting regarding grant funding for our expedition from the UNH parents association. We will be meeting with an outdoor ed representitive on thursday, and from there all that is left is to reach our fundraising goal of $1000.

?

Might as well start my blog. Not sure what to put here other than we have started our fundraisiers efforts and will hopefully be on our way to an adventure quite soon.