Last week at THS, the freshman class participated in Challenge Day. Challenge Day is a nonprofit organization that visits schools with the goal of building empathy and lessening hostility in local communities. Trained instructors visit a school for a day, called Challenge Day, and engage the students in activities focused on breaking down social barriers and prejudices. To garner insight on this day and its actual impact on students, I interviewed two freshmen before and after Challenge Day. Below, read what Wyatt Wilson and Dominica Struble have to say about their experiences.
Before Challenge Day
In the days leading up to Challenge Day, I interviewed Wyatt and Dominica about their impression of Challenge Day and its possible consequences. I started by asking them to describe the social environment at THS. They gave me remarkably dissimilar answers. Wyatt said, “it’s very separated, I would say. There’s a bunch of different groups of people.” In contrast, Dominica said that, while cliques do exist at THS, she sees the social environment as “… really welcoming, in my opinion. I have a lot of friends here, so that’s pretty fun. Getting to talk to a lot of different people – I don’t know, I like it.” When I asked Wyatt if he believes the social environment is more hostile to some groups of people than others, he answered “yes.” Dominica agreed that the social environment is not inclusive to everyone, but not to the point that it’s a big problem.
Dominica and Wyatt agree that the pandemic has had a negative impact on the social dynamic of their grade. Wyatt described the freshman class as being less social and more estranged as a result of the pandemic and distance learning. Dominica explained that “coming from being the oldest at the middle school to the youngest at the high school, it’s just kind of difficult. I feel like a lot of people are really immature, just because we’ve been in the house for so long, and we’re trying to express ourselves as quickly as possible.”
After asking Wyatt and Dominica to describe the social environment at THS, I moved on to the topic of bullying. I asked each of them if they think bullying is a problem at THS. Both Wyatt and Dominica said yes, but that they witness it in different ways. Wyatt replied that, “I haven’t seen much bullying. But I know that it is against that kind of band group. That’s all I know.” Conversely, Dominica said, “I see people being mean to people every day. Even if it’s just a joke, some people, you don’t know how they take it…you don’t know how that affects someone.”
Overall, Domica and Wyatt told me that they and their peers could improve their closeness with and kindness to others. With that in mind, I asked them to tell me what they already knew about Challenge Day. They didn’t know particulars. Wyatt said: “All I know about it is that they’re going to get a bunch of people from my grade and put us into random groups, and we’re going to do games together.” Domica said: “I heard that it’s really serious and can be very life-changing if you have the right mindset going into it, actually participate, and not take it as a joke.”
In terms of expectations, Wyatt predicted Challenge Day would be “… awkward at first, being in those groups, but then we’ll slowly get used to each other…” He wasn’t sure if Challenge Day would actually create a less-hostile and more inclusive campus environment. Wyatt concluded that, to this end, Challenge Day might help “… a little, because there are going to be some people who just don’t care about it and keep doing what they usually do. I feel like it will be half and half.”
Dominica was also unsure of what to expect. She worried that “… a lot of people are going to take it as a joke, just because my grade is very immature…it’s hard opening up, so I feel like a lot of people aren’t going to open up. But it’s obviously [the organizers’] job to let us open up, so I don’t know how it’s going to play out.” Regardless, she hoped that Challenge Day would create a more inclusive environment, because “the campus can be very exclusive, and the cliques are hard to join when you’re not in one.”
After Challenge Day
Meeting up with Wyatt and Dominica again, I initially asked the two how they felt after Challenge Day. Wyatt emphasized he felt “… way more bad for so many more people, seeing all their situations.” Dominica expanded on this point, saying that she felt “… more understood and understanding. I see what other people have gone through, and I feel more compassionate and less alone.”
Wyatt and Dominica told me they started Challenge Day playing games, and that it was very upbeat. They slowly eased into the emotionally intense activities. Wyatt described getting put into small groups of four or five people and finishing the question: “If you really knew me, you would know this ____.” Afterward, they did an activity called Cross The Line. The instructors told the students to cross a line if they had ever experienced something, and described different experiences. When the class finished that activity, they went back to their small groups and shared what they were proud of about themselves. At that point, “everyone got a little more happy,” according to Wyatt.
All in all, Wyatt and Dominica agreed Challenge Day went well. Wyatt was surprised at the outcome. He said, “I thought a bunch of people were just going to mess around the whole time, but the people that I thought were going to mess around the whole time took it the most seriously, which is kind of crazy.” Dominica summed it up: “It was just all-around good.”
Going forward, Wyatt and Dominica have new impressions of their peers. Wyatt said he is much more sympathetic and empathetic toward others now that he knows their situations. Dominica said that “… people who don’t open up as much… really opened up during Challenge Day.” After Challenge Day, Dominica said she feels less alone and more understood by her classmates. She continued that she’s going to try to be kinder to others, even if they’re rude to her, because they could have struggles in their lives that she doesn’t know about.
Neither Dominica nor Wyatt are sure what the long-term consequences of Challenge Day will be. Dominica is optimistic that the empathy her class practiced during Challenge Day will continue into the future.
Thank you so much to Wyatt and Dominica for agreeing to these interviews. They gave me crucial insight into Challenge Day, how it works, and how it affected them. Going into Winter Break and the New Year, maybe you’ll also try to cultivate empathy and closeness in your relationships.
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