Outdoor School: A Transformation written by Mathew West, Twig, after serving as a counselor during Week #1, fall 2006
There is something about outdoor school that changes a person. Everyone is kind and helpful. No one teases or leaves anyone out. It's like everything you thought you knew about other people has changed for the better. You make lifelong friends with the most unlikely of people, and open up to them like you never have with anyone else. You face new situations every day and have to take responsibility for yourself and others.
When I first arrived, I hardly knew anyone. Everyone seemed pretty easygoing, and it was easy to talk to people because you had absolutely no way of telling who they were. It felt great to be able to talk to others without having to worry about crossing any kind of clique boundary, because no such boundaries existed out there. When I talked with a fellow counselor, we established a connection simply on the fact that we both had guitars. Later I would learn that he was a wrestler. I was surprised to find that I didn't care, even though back at school I made it a point to avoid most of the students involved in sports. We were all clean slates, without any preconceived impressions to hold us back.
For the first two days we participated in trust activities to help our relationship with our fellow counselors along. One of them involved falling backwards with our partner behind us to catch us as we fell. I chose someone I didn't know and who seemed a little timid to test myself. It helped show me that none of us had time to question each other's abilities, but would have to trust that everyone would pitch in and try their best. These activities also helped us learn to encourage and cheer everyone on. We would need the help of everyone around us if we were to make it through the week.
After the two days of trust activities, it was time for us to get our kids. They must have been so scared! We were screaming like crazy people and singing ridiculous songs. "Outdoor School, How Do You Feel?" Despite all the screaming I did, I was nervous. Would they like me? Would I like them? I had no idea what to expect, because I have never been given kids to take care of; I haven't even baby-sat before. So, needless to say, this was a new experience for me. During the first day, we had beach games. We had to launch water balloon over a volleyball net using a small parachute, to a group holding a parachute on the other side. The goal was to toss the water balloon back and forth as many times as we could without popping it. I was amazed at how quickly we came together as a team. At campfire that night, one of my guys put his head on my knee because he was so tired. The way he acted then, I could tell he trusted me. At the moment I realized just how amazing this week was going to be.
Recreation wasn't the only time we worked together. All of outdoor school is like a support system; whenever you need a hand, someone is there to help you. Whenever I needed a counselor to watch my kids while I went off in search of a staff member, all of the counselors in my cabin group would make sure the kids kept out of trouble until I got back. If anyone was feeling down, there was always a smiling face to help cheer him or her up. I remember one counselor who was scared to get her kids because her English wasn't so good. She didn't want them to misinterpret this as lack of emotion or intelligence. Whenever she started to worry, I would comfort her and tell her it would be ok As it turned out, her kids loved her. She had two girls that weren't even hers constantly clinging to her in field studies. She had groupies!
Once I got to know my fellow counselors, I started to find out what their interests were. I discovered that I had befriended cheerleaders, wrestlers and who knows what else. As I found out where my new friends fit in at their schools, I realized that the stereotypes we use to categorize our classmates are completely ridiculous. Going to outdoor school opened my eyes to the stupidity of such behavior. If we didn't spend so much time judging others and kept our minds open, we could make friends with almost anybody. At outdoor school, you have the opportunity to be yourself and to let your true self out of the shadows and into the sun.
The most amazing thing about outdoor school for us counselors was the go-'round. This is where all the counselors and staff meet to talk about what they think of outdoor school so far. As we grew closer together, we started to share some of our problems with the group. People you would consider lucky because of their popularity revealed their broken homes and drug problems. I will not tell you who these people are, because I don't want to lose their friendship. I will tell you this - we cried. Oh, boy did we cry! We heard stories that the individual's best friends back at school didn't even know about. Just being at outdoor school gave these teenagers the strength to reveal themselves, their fears and their wounds.
There is no other place on earth that could have done this for us. We put our lives in the spotlight, we felt emotion that otherwise might have been locked up forever. Outdoor school changed me in ways I couldn't have possibly imagined. I cried harder than I ever thought I could. You know what the craziest thing about that is! I wasn't even crying for me, I was crying for someone else. I can't begin to describe to you how amazing that felt, which is why I encourage you to go for yourself. You will never be the same again; I guarantee it.
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