In July, I brought students and staff of my laboratory to Blue Mountain for a lab retreat. We had 22 people join in the fun, but unfortunately 7 couldn’t make it. We spent the days making breakfast and lunch ourselves, and we visited local restaurants two evenings for dinner. The final night was Taco Night, and we prepared dinner ourselves. Arguably the best dinner of all the days.
We played games, sang songs, and did various sports activities including volleyball, tennis, basketball, golf, running, hiking, and beach volleyball. The days of the retreat were filled with joy, relaxation, singing, and friendship, and I have fully appreciated the hobbies and talents of the students outside of science. It turns out that my lab has amazing athletes, singers, organizers, cooks, storytellers, and comedians.
They can work hard and play hard, and are just an amazing group of lovely young people. Even though everyone comes from all over the world with different backgrounds, everyone has a kind and beautiful heart and a willingness to help others.
I couldn’t be more honoured and proud to have such a very happy, kind, and helpful laboratory family. This trip not only allowed me to get to know them better, but it also allowed everyone to strengthen their friendships.
Money and time well spent for a priceless memory that we’ll all carry with us. Couldn’t be happier with the current team and dynamics that we have going in our lab!
– Dr. Yingfu Li