With a crew like ours onboard Concordia, hidden talents and individualistic characteristics are omnipresent. While some talents may be overtly obvious, others are safely tucked away waiting for their opportune moments to shine. Each person has a quality that makes them unique and sets them apart from everyone else; by learning about these tricks and traits we, as a crew, become closer.

For the first two sails of this semester we have most definitely been working on getting to know one another and improving our bonds as crewmembers, cabin mates, classmates and friends. We have been participating in crew-wide activities that bridge the gap between the new and the returning students onboard Concordia. The Leadership Class and the Social Club have organized events that are both entertaining and beneficial in getting to know one another better.

One of the first activities we participated in as a crew-wide event was comparing our similarities and differences. We assembled in our watch groups and made Venn diagrams that had common traits among the whole group in the middle, and we each had separate circles coming off that held a characteristic that made us individual to the group.

Among many interesting qualities, we learnt that Nic can play the ukulele, that Verity can speak in five different languages, that Brittany has lived in six countries and that Corey has attached earlobes. We came to learn that every member of watch 1 plays a sport and that watch 5 loves to listen to the Beatles.

Fun in the Mess at Coffee House

On our second sail the Social Club onboard organized a Coffee House Event for us to showcase our talents. We were entertained with a variety of activities, many of which were musical. We were delighted to hear the melodic talents of our fellow crew members, some of who had sung and played their instruments for us before, Gabrielle, Erin B., Ryan T., Bosun Nik P. and First Mate Adam. Those who had their musical debuts at our Coffee House were Ms. Marcos on guitar and her rap number accompanied by Ms. Olivella, along with Nic and Chase and their hilarious 'vocal adventure'.

Musical Duo

More of the hidden talents that we were delighted by included Robyn's poetry reading, Carter's amazing ability to solve a Rubik's cube in just over 2 minutes, Joey's mini Spanish lesson, and Ms. T and Ms. H's movie quote showcase. We witnessed Melina's bravery as she ate a concoction whipped up by Paige, Jeremy and Megan. Adam taught us about cosmos and the entire solar system, and our cook Grace read the ship's tarot cards that the captain himself picked.

Although some talents are easily presented, as an individual bursts out in song or picks up a guitar and begins to play, other tricks are not as easily known about. Through such events of getting to know one another and learning about our strengths as unique individuals, we as a team onboard the Concordia take another step closer to unifying ourselves as one solid crew.