“I will always remember having a can-do attitude and challenging myself.” ~Nathan, after crossing the catwalk, twice
Forty-three students in four cabins woke up to greet the sun and begin the day by shuffling to the dining hall, where a hearty breakfast was had before heading out into the woods for adventure hikes and to learn wilderness survival skills.
How much kindling do you need to start a fire? What part does trust play in helping a group succeed? What kind of resources do you need to build a shelter that blocks the wind and keeps in the warmth? Students worked in their day groups to build fires, learn how to tie knots, build shelters for Bernice the Chicken, and practice trust falls.
Louis shared that The Goats did a good job building fires, but he is most excited for the s’mores that we will enjoy around the campfire at night. Ellis, his teammate, shared, “I liked how we worked together to pick up the twigs and the cardboard that we used instead of bark to make the fire. I liked to see how things dissolved into ash. I read a book about a week ago about survival skills, and today I got to make the teepee shape and have an open space for oxygen, and then I put the bark in, and anything that was not moist, and then we lit it with a match. This was the first time I actually lit a fire.”
After completing the tasks, some shout-outs from the students include:
- “Manolo for swinging like Tarzan”
- “Elsie grabbed Cora so she wouldn’t fall in the lava”
- “Joya was very positive the whole time like yayy!!!”
- “Nick sacrificed himself to help and then gave the stick to someone so they could learn how to do it”
- “Cora came up with the idea to use the stick to get the rope across”
- “Lily for being really supportive while we were building our shelter and the fire, and helped to give everyone jobs”
- “Pierce because he’s been really kind to everyone at all times”
- “Dom for helping us out when we were trying to make the fire and build our shelter”
Nicole popped in to say hello, and took a tour of the shelters and the makeshift fire pits. It was a busy morning, and it only got better because after our delicious lunch of mac and cheese and salad, we headed out for the high ropes course, where courage and bravery were on full display.
Helmets, harnesses, and supportive spotters got the climbers ready for the more than 45 foot tall course. Akash, who speedily climbed the ladder and crossed the catwalk fearlessly, shared, “I wanted to have fun and challenged myself to go up. I used to have a small fear of heights and I would get nervous, but I wanted to try and find the feeling – excited and scared at the same time. I had to control my breathing because I was afraid of falling but I was very excited. At the end of the day, the excitement outmatched the fear. I could see far from the top, and it was very beautiful and I wanted to stay up there for a very long time but I got down to give other people a try.”
One group tried scaling a climbing wall, located on the Blue Trail. Gabi reflected, “At the beginning, I was nervous and I didn’t want to start but as the line became smaller, the fear started to grow in me. When I stepped on the first couple of rocks, my hands got sweaty and my heart was pumping. But then as I started climbing, I felt really happy because I was doing one of the harder walls. Classmates were giving me instructions on where to put my feet and my hands, and the facilitator told me that if I just reached one of them, I could definitely make it. Jumping made me nervous, and I didn’t want to let go. But I did it. I felt like I could do challenging things because I got to the goal. I did what I planned to do when we got to the climbing wall.”
Manny scaled the rubber-tire jungle wire in record time, pushing himself physically and mentally. He shared, “At the beginning, it was pretty easy but the more I got up, the harder it got because I did not know where to put my hands. I was scared to let your hand go from the rope, but I made sure that my other hand was ready for me to swing over. I was hearing cheers from my friends, my mind was blank, and I was feeling nervous. Crossing the wire made me feel accomplished. It is the first time I’ve done something like this.”
For Nathan, crossing the catwalk is not the first time he’s experienced a ropes course, but today, he did it twice. The first time, he only made it halfway, but he tried again. “I was patient and I waited my turn to go again. When I went a second time, when I got to the part where I got stuck the first time, I just persevered to go all the way and I feel like it was worth it because I got to see the view from up there and I felt like I could relax a little. The cheering and the encouragement, as well as the funny advice my friends were giving me, helped me get to the goal. I will always remember having a can-do attitude and challenging myself.”
A big game of tag after dinner was followed by journaling in cabins, after which there were delicious s’mores around the campfire by the lake. We crossed the dam at twilight and then centered around the fire that our facilitators started for us. “Help, my marshmallow is on fire!” (because it was literally on fire and had to be blown out, but apparently that is when it is most delicious) was the sign that your sweet treat was ready to be assembled by Facilitator Alissia, who kept the fire going into the cloudy night. Students sang a diverse playlist of songs around the campfire – Risk It All, Golden, Call Me Maybe, APT, Party in the USA, almost the entire anthology of Bruno Mars, and Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star – before heading back, through the dark woods, to the bunks one last time.