Personal Narrative

On a humid afternoon, I remember sitting on that old renovated school bus, wearing denim shorts and an old tee, completely soaked in mucky water from head to toe. When my mom told me about the weeklong adventure camp that was completely free for military dependent kids, I suppose I was unprepared for the level of adventuring in store. With her dad stationed in Alaska, my best friend Yarish also came with me to Clemson, South Carolina where it was held in July 2012. It was our first real day there, as we had gotten dropped off the following evening, and the agenda that morning called from canoeing. Neither of us had experience with maneuvering watercrafts, but that calm, sunny morning we began without hesitation. There were about fifteen

I forgot we were in South Carolina and presumed we were in a South American tropics rainforest at this point. The pack was moving faster after the crackling thunder threatened us directly overhead, and more power was needed from my end of the canoe to keep up. Our own canoe was quickly getting heavier, as it filled nearly halfway up with the huge raindrops that would not stop pouring. We were getting weighed down, and soon we were the last pair before the counselor’s canoe. They signaled to us to try to latch our boats together, so that the water could be scooped out. Once I grabbed ahold of theirs, our latched canoes veered left and Yarish & I’s slammed into the banks, knocking dozens of monstrous spiders into the freshwater of our boat. In a state of anxiousness and completely soaked, we soon found another beach-like area and tipped over the wooden canoe, releasing its water contents and arachnids. After that, my arms turned to noodles as we tried to catch up with the rest of the group. The skies cleared just before we reached our exit point, which was over seven miles from where we started that morning. We drug the canoe up the steep hill and unto a carrier before boarding the bus. Everyone’s shoes squeaked while walking down the narrow bus aisle. With the start of the engine, I closed my eyes; head leaned against the vibrating window, completely

We got to know the other campers more through playing ultimate Frisbee outside and variations of tag in the gym the following day. We also bonded racing go-karts and playing video games. It was interesting bonding with other kids not from my town that understood what it was like to have a parent deployed- to send care packages and Skype as much as possible with drastic time differences. There was a rock wall that I mastered, after watching many others. Everyone else maneuvered the belaying rope system for the person climbing, inciting trust between the group. The next day, we went hiking and rock climbing on a natural rock slope. Whereas the manmade before one was straight up and down with artificial rocks, this one was strange and had a somewhat gradual slope and nearly smooth surface. It wasn’t what I expected, and on the climb up I was feeling quite confident. Then standing at the top, looking down at the rest of the group, higher than I had realized, the venture down was a little more intimidating. It was exciting and meals with the group were nearly always the same food but great bonding each day. There was a fair skinned brunette named Rachel, and a tall red headed boy called Zane that Yarish and I bonded with most. Overall there was a great vibe between the entire dozen boys and seven girls. Every night we had a campfire, around which we played hilarious games and let ours walls down to each