Camp, My Experience and Me!

As I arrived at camp, my heart was racing. This year being my first year, I was excited beyond belief. Many of the things I would be doing would be totally new to me, such as whitewater rafting, volleyball and canoeing.

Sleeping in my cabin was an interesting experience all its own, as I have never been camping before. Now, I know it wasn’t in a tent, but it’s the closest I’ve ever been. I had only a few run-ins with bugs; we had a cricket once and moths, too. But I didn’t mind—not too much anyway!

One of my favorite days was when we learned to play volleyball. I had never played, so I was pumped! Everyone said I did really well for my first time. I just had a blast. I didn’t mind how I played so much as that I had fun. Many of my fellow campers participated last year, so their encouragement helped a lot.

Another day at camp, we went canoeing. It was a most perfect day because: (1) The weather was fantastic! The sky was cloudy, but when you could see it, it was a bright, vibrant aquamarine blue. It was sunny, but not all the time, which was good—and there was a wonderful breeze. (2) The scenery was beautiful! As we passed by trees and greenery, I gazed in awe at what God created. (3) The pace and my partners allowed me to canoe at a comfortable speed for practically the whole journey—and I had great teammates.

One of my all-time favorite events, though, was the scavenger hunt, or the “Amazing Race” as it was renamed. I really enjoyed all the challenges. One of the funniest was the one where you had to find “a girl’s soapy foot.” I was the only girl on my team, so guess who had to do it? But it was all in good fun, and I would go on the scavenger hunt all over again in a heartbeat.

An activity that was both scary and fun was the ropes courses, both high and low. I liked the low ones better, even though the high ones were fun. On the low ropes, my team did three different challenges, but only finished two. We didn’t mind, though, because we completed the most challenging one.

The high ropes course, however, was a different story. It involved more one-person activities. I went on three and completed two (yet again).

The first was like a high wire. You climbed up a tree, grabbed a rope, walked on a wire (holding ropes), and finally walked back to the middle and stepped off! I was really nervous when I did it. But I survived to tell the tale! The next challenge I went on was the rock wall, or the climbing wall. It was pretty fun, but I didn’t like it when I got to the top. Knowing I had the safety rope helped. The last course I did was called “Cyclops.” In this course, a person tries to reach a tire suspended by a forked tree. It’s a bit hard to explain, so let me just say I didn’t finish—but I didn’t mind.

When we arrived at whitewater rafting, there was a buzz of excitement in the air. Many of my fellow campers, and the staff as well, had been rafting before. But there were others that had not. I was one person that hadn’t, and I was thrilled to be able to experience something like this.

After brief instructions on how to put on a life jacket and helmet, we set off. When we arrived at the rapids, we were given more instruction—this time on how to control our raft. A few minutes later, we were on the river heading toward our first rapid of the day. After going through more rapids and eating lunch, we headed toward our final stretch of river and our last rapid of the day. Overall, it was fun and exhilarating.

As AYC ended, I looked back on the fun experiences, with fond memories of camp, campers, staff and activities. I really and truly hope I can come back next year!