Don't Read This: The Scavenger Hunt

I thought the scavenger hunt was a clever way to get through the (generally speaking) awkward first day of class. Although only one or two, I did have my own critiques about it. Even though we kind followed other students I felt like I was somehow cheating by obtaining so much off the internet. Now I understand that that a 35 minute scavenger hunt at night, at a community college can have its challenges but unfortunately for me I take things literally. So as the hunt started, our team attempted to strategize on how to obtain the “easiest” items first. We multitasked by walking in the direction of the library with other people figuring other people were going for the book, The Fire Next Time. As we got to the library, every computer in the front area was occupied by other teams so one of our teammates used the directory to locate the book in the library. As he was busy with that task, my teammate and I noticed that everyone was taking pictures of the objectives on the computer screen. I think that is when we altered out strategy and took the path of least resistance. I guess the strategy worked a little as our team was able to complete nine of the fourteen tasks and if we had to go the hunt again, I would have got more off the internet.

Based on my few experiences with scavenger hunts, I would say that this scavenger hunt was based more on creativity than problem solving. Maybe that is a weak spot for me and probably why I followed other groups for ideas and did not come up with as many on my own. None the less I still enjoyed the scavenger hunt even though it was a little cold outside. But what scavenger hunt reveals about individuals and society is that it is an unbiased game that does not give any particular demographic an advantage. A good example of this is the questions that were asked at the beginning of class and how the class has such a diverse group of people. It is that particular dynamic in which the scavenger hunt was created. To make sure that anyone and everyone who wanted to participate were able to. It transcends socioeconomic classes, gender, race and any other idealism that one can think of.