Shad Valley

WHEN I finished GYLC, I didn't expect any other experience to beat it.

Shad Valley, however, met and surpassed any and all of my expectations. It was an amalgam of science, entrepreneurship, and the experience of innovation.

I can say with a great deal of conviction that Shad Valley changed my life. It rectified cultural rifts, eradicated my inhibitions, and opened up my narrow-minded perceptions- expanding my horizons until I viewed the glittering expanse of the world in its entirety.

As though an objective entity, divorced from the physical and emotional being of my body, I watched my remarkable evolution over the month of July 2004.

I have never observed so dramatic a change in anybody (much less myself) over a period of 30 days.

Yet I changed, certainly and inexorably. I feel as though I am a new person, grounded more in the empirical, and hardened in a certain sense by my time of complete independence.

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I still remember the class, in october, when my Chemistry teacher presented a powerpoint about Shad and suggested we all apply.

I don't think I ever anticipated it would change my life- to be utterly candid, I viewed it as resume icing. That shallow comprehension of the program, is nothing short of disgusting today- Shad Valley was an unrivalled experience, that went beyond words on a paper.
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EVERYTHING was different at Shad Valley. Even my conception of teamwork had to be razed to the ground, replaced with a newer, more realistic realization. What happens when youth leaders are placed together in a small group, and told to work together? In a group of the kind that entered Shad Valley, there are no followers- only aspiring leaders. To work like this, with the maniac shifting of power as an everpresent backdrop, was an entirely new experience- and yet something I learned from.

- Leadership is offical and unofficial- quite often the real power lies with the latter.

- Group histeria is a miserable experience ,that once begun will spiral until an inevitable, ugly conclusion. Avoid it at all costs.

- Reconcile the factions that will spring up in your group. Otherwise, nothing will be accomplished.

- Compromise. It pays huge dividends.

- In the heat of a situation, things will be said that are not grounded in veracity whatsoever- ignore them, and plow forward. Apologies can be saved for later.

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ENTREPRENEURSHIP is all about sacrifices. I learnt that it was about sacrificing time, sometimes the ideal of a family, and inevitably, one's permanent sanity.

It is only for those with the greatest tenacity and the innate sense of risk- those not burdened entirely with an imbued sense of caution. It is for those that can throw away-and make- fortunes in seconds and minutes. It is for those who live by the second hand of the clock, for those who pay attention to the micro and the macro and for those who live with a solid understanding of the world.

I can't believe that a month could teach me enough to speak about it as though I were a seasoned veteran- and yet, in a way, I am. At Shad I founded a company, Terminus Innovations, and developed a product that may yet be commercialized- something I never imagined myself doing.

I remain uncertain, as to whether I will formally enter entrepreneurship as my field of chosen interest. The experience, however, was not futile at all- entrepreneurship is an exercise participated informally by each one of us, on a daily basis.

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There was also an athletic component to the program- nearly two hours of recreation every day.For someone as athletically incapable as myself, it was my least favorite part of the program.

Activities ranged from climbing mountains (literally, as one Shad put it) to aerobics in the tennis court, on the hottest day of the month. As much as I love dancing and exercising to music , suited ideally for Raves, it was not my most memorable moment. In fact, if the whole concept of aerobics disappeared entirely off the earth, I can't say I would be unhappy.

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The executive summary?

The best:

1. The Project - we had to design a product and write a business plan to match it.

2. Lectures

3. Raffi- the famous children's singer (of 'Down by the bay...' or 'Baby Beluga') who was a major benefactor of Shad UBC

4. The Camping Trip- rather conventional by most standards except for one unusual addition- the outhouse was covered with windows (our camping site apparantly treasured whatever remained of the Hippie age)

5. The Staff- so smart, so wonderful. One of the staff, Raj, had been clever enough to buy the domains www.vancouverolympics.com/net/org/ca as soon as the proposal went in. Now he's recieving offers with many 0's.