Summer Camp Round Two

That feeling you get when you return to a place you fell in love with is unforgettable and difficult to put into words.  I simply loved summer camp in the summer of 2012 I decided it was an opportunity for round two! SB2W summer of 2013 would be my second and last time I was a camper.  The picture to the left depicts the cabin I was in, I was still a Legend in Cabin 12 but our group was a little different this time.  My best friend didn't have the opportunity to come, but I found my old friends and new ones.

We had a lot of pride in our cabin and my counselors where the coolest of them all.  I still have the opportunity to email back and for with one of them as I go through my college years.  To the right is both of my counselors for my cabin  the one on the left eventually was added to the roman team "the enemy" and the one to the right was a Galatian so she was on the right team. 

I still struggled with wrist issues on this trip and had to keep myself in line with some of the activities.  During the faith pole i luckily was able to get on top of the telephone pole and jump with a little help from some of my friends.  Heights remained to not be enjoyable and when the high ropes corse adventure came around I found myself cheering from the ground...safe!  I returned to the white water rafting adventure and survived for a second time.  The weather seemed to be against us as it poured most of the afternoon and night meaning we got a little wet while camping.

I kept many of my friends from this adventure but I knew all to well that I would not return to the wonderful Que, so I said my goodbyes and prayed that maybe there was a chance I could return.  The outdoors has always brought me a sense of piece and when the two weeks came I didn't want to leave.  My brothers came with on this adventure though I rarely saw them.  Unfortunately for them the weather most of that summer was rainy and kept us inside for some of the day.  They found this boring and I got the chance to grow closer with my cabin mates and counselors.  This term also turned out to be a blue summer and the cool blue Galatians went home with another victory over the red hot Romans.

Life Lesson #22: Sometimes the weather can ruin your adventure, but you must improvise and turn it into becoming something much better and never let the weather ruin your fun.

Track Team Over Night

When they say that you run your fastest while in a hotel hallway, many people don't realize how truthful that is.  Overnight school trips are amazing and are a great opportunity, but sports overnight trips are even better.  During Track season the biggest meet for us during the regular season was ACSI in Bangor, PA.  This was May of 2013 and the first time we stayed overnight.  previous years we enjoyed torturing ourselves and decided it would be way more fun to meet at school at 4 am and drive to the meet.  This messed up our sleep schedules and hurdlers went first and I was barely awake.


Between athletes there is such a saying as "I run faster in the hotel hallways then I do anywhere else"  is probably the most realistic and truthful statement about athletes I know.  We went around the town and just admired the smallness of it all.  It was the cutest center to a town I had seen in awhile.

The food that we had for dinner was your usually carb load up, the classics like pasta.  We were a small team at this point with no that many girls and we were able to place 3rd over all.  I wasn't able to achieve my goal of getting first place for my number 1 event and all time favorite the 100m hurdles.  I knew I was coming back the next year to face the same girls and I wasn't going to lose to them again.  We placed 2nd for the 4 by 100m relay and it was the best time for the year and we were happy about that.

The trip was an adventure and the track meet took all day and my whole team waited till I finish javelin and then we headed to the nearest sonic for our classic post meet dinner.  That day each of us accomplished somethings that we never though where possible.  But that day we might have run faster on the track then through the hotel hallways no matter how creepy they were.

Life Lesson #21: There might be people out there that are faster and stronger, but as long as you push yourself to do your best then you can't walk away with your head low.

1st Summer Camp

Going to a summer camp for the first time that is six hours away from home brought some nerves.  It was a sleep away christian sports camp for two weeks. Summer of 2012 I went off to Summer's Best Two Weeks with my best friend.  With intense competition between the Cool Blue Galatians and the Red Hot Romans, the octatholon, swim meet, track meet, canoe meet, overnight trips, and dinning hall singing.

Immediately I loved the entire camp atmosphere and my cabin.  I was with my best friend and six others girls my age and two consolers that where in college.  I quickly made friends with girls of all ages.  As someone who eats constantly it was hard to adjust to the rule of no food in the cabins.  We also weren't allowed to have any electronics, but for me that wasn't a major issue.

I enjoyed every moment of camp and as the weeks passed I didn't want to leave.  The Galatians ended up winning camp for the term and it was a great victory for us.  My best friend was put on the Romans and I was a Galatian.  I helped the soccer team win and I received first place in all my events in the track meet.  The canoe meet wasn't in my favor when in the doubles my partner and I flipped our canoe and it started to sink into the lake.

This camp pushed me to the limit and I spent a lot of time with God.  I went white water rafting as the Legend trip.  which the legends where Cabin 11 and 12 for the boys and girls, which in camp is the oldest group and why we go on an overnight trip.  It was a lot of fun and we named our raft the Titanic 2.0 and ironically we were the only raft not to flip over or have anyone fall out.  In the end I had such a great time that I decided to go back again the next summer.

Life Lesson #19: The more time I spend away from home the more I can be myself and forget what really goes on.