On December 14th, a “Running Man” event was held on NIT’s north athletic field. Running Man is a group-oriented training program designed to enhance the multi-tasking and cognitive skills of participants, as well as to develop higher levels of communication and trust. Teams take part in a variety of outdoor games to learn the value of teamwork and how to deal with both success and failure.

In one phase of the event, students played two very interesting games that involved drinking coffee and trying to take a bite out of food items that were being moved about. In order to succeed at each game, excellent teamwork was required. Participation in these games also served to bring students closer together, regardless of whether their team won or lost. One of the students, Yu Mengqian, commented, “The strength of one person is insignificant, but the strength of a team is considerable. Only when all the members of a team work together efficiently can their team achieve success.” Failure in these activities often meant some type of discomfort or embarrassment, such as getting hit in the face or head by a volleyball thrown by the opposing team. Chen Li remarked, “In the end, it’s not about winning or losing – it’s about working together to succeed as a team and developing our individual skills to find common solutions to problems. This is a great source of happiness!”

The Running Man event taught student-participants the importance of never giving up, as well as the values of teamwork and persistence. All agreed that these are skills that will be required to be successful in one’s studies, future career, and personal life.