Day 2 came with a early and rude awakening after a rough first night of sleep. I get we were here to participate at camp and follow the program, but getting up before 8am in the summer was painful. The only light through the gloom was that I had a fully cooked breakfast waiting for me in the cafeteria...but Tim B decided to put the brakes on that locomotive. Having had the worst room the day before, he was making sure history wouldn't repeat itself.
The process began with making the beds to look like the day we first walked in. Then all the clothes lying around were put in an orderly manner. Any trash was put in the waste basket. All towels were hung, all water was cleaned up, and everything was in proper order. We felt pretty good about our chances as we finally headed to breakfast. We wouldn't know the end results until around dinner time.
After breakfast came a Take Five. These actually happened directly after every meal. They were up to fifteen minutes long, but were meant for everyone to find a secluded spot all to themselves and be quiet for at least 5 minutes. There were various intentions for this time, but the most simple was to be able to spend 5 minutes of calm and quiet to yourself in a jam-packed day. I'll admit that my first go around with the take fives was not anything as they were intended to be, but later I would find great value in them.
I mentioned group time previously, but I didn't mention anything about my group. It consisted of a group leader, a couple of assistant group leaders, and the rest were jr high kids, myself included. My Dad was assigned to my group as the main leader. The co-group leaders were Mark M and Isaac M (no relation). There were three other kids in my group who were Sam K, Vincent K, and another kid whose name escapes me. Having my Dad as the group leader eased my ever present anxiety during the week. But I want to talk a bit about Isaac M. This was the first time I had met him as he was from Michigan. He was pretty good friends with both Tim C and Mark M. Once I met him, I instantly thought he was one of the cool kids. He had the looks, personality, and a big smile that made him a very likeable dude. What fascinated me the most was that someone like him was willing to give up a week of his summer to serve jr. high kids. All of those things made me appreciate someone like him even more.
After a really good morning session, the afternoon activity had us back in the gym. It was set up for a large game of Knockout and two courts for volleyball. I quickly gravitated towards the ever growing knockout line. I wasn't long before we had intense games going. There were so many kids who wanted to play that we had to form two lines on both hoops. Once again it was mixed with jr high, high school, college, and even some post-college adults.
There was so much chaos that you had to have the utmost concentration to win a game. And that was something I wanted more than anything. To be able to say I was the last one standing vs my peers and those greater than I. I took shot after shot. I ran all over that court like a crazed maniac. Game after game I fought for that W. But it was repeat after repeat. A missed shot followed by a swish. The clang of my desperation throws missing over and over. I became so drenched is sweat I could've splashed in a small puddle.
I was getting tired, but in the next game I made the top 5. I was oh so close to sweet victory that I could taste it. The desire and drive in me overcame my fatigue. I stepped in line for one more shot. The first shots were taken and we were off. Each time I got the ball in my hands, I made every shot count. Aggression was the key to my success. If the person in front of me missed their shot, they had to react quick because I was in the zone. My confidence grew when an older kid missed his shot and I sunk mine. Before I knew it, I found myself in the final 3. It was me, another jr high kid, and a college serving one by the name of Johnny H. We all slowed down to catch our breath. The other kid was up first. He missed his shot. I quickly fired mine, but I too missed. I managed to retrieve my rebound and lay it up off the glass before the other kid's ball hit the rim. I hustled back in line. It was now David vs Goliath. Johnny H took his shot and he made it. Then I made mine before he got back to the line to take another. Back and forth we went. Neither being able to knock out the other. Then a loud CLANG was heard as Johnny H missed was a seemingly easy shot. I didn't hesitate and heaved a desperation free-throw. I ran forward to grab the re-bound, but there was none. My ball hit the square and fell through the net. KNOCK OUT! I celebrated in pure ecstasy. Not only had I finally won, but I beat someone much older and better than me to do so. After that, nothing was going to ruin my day.
I want to pause this memory for a moment and reflect on a valuable life lesson here. It wasn't until years later, when I found myself at this very camp and in this very situation, but with the roles reversed, where I was now the older college kid taking on the last remaining jr high kid in the knockout line, that it hit me like a ton of bricks. Johnny H let me win that game. There were shots he took that he should've easily made, but it was clear to me now that he purposely missed them. Was I upset when I had this realization? Nope. Did it take away from that valuable moment in my life? Not in the slightest. I still had to earn my way into that top 2. To face the best of the best. And I still had to make the winning shot. But the lesson there wasn't about winning or losing and doing so to the best of one's ability. It was a matter of taking care of someone else. Someone like me who hardly played organized sports. Who very rarely got the taste of victory in front of a crowd. And anxiety-riddled jr high kid who felt like he achieved the impossible. And for a long time, Johnny H's act of kindness carried on in me for years to come. So when that young kid in front of me was playing his heart out to beat "the big kid", it became my turn to miss my shot. And when that kid made the winning basket, he felt the pure joy I had all those years ago. I small, humbling act of kindness can do wonders in someone's life. And I experienced both sides of that coin.
Un-pause. Knockout would not be the only exciting activity that day. The evening one was one I was looking forward to since I saw the schedule. A night swim. The boys were doing this one solo while the girls would get their turn the next night. Never before in my life had I been able to swim in a large pool well after the sun went down. We were out in the middle of nowhere where we could be as rambunctious and loud as we wanted. Just walking to the pool's edge and I was in awe. Heated, lit so you could see what you were doing, a volleyball net across the shallow end and a basketball hoop on the side. I was in kid heaven.
What made the experience special was not simply the fact that it was a night swim. It was the fact that all the boys were able to have an incredible bonding moment. While the first 15 minutes or so were spent getting used to the water and the feel of the space, the rest of the night was organized chaos. We organized volleyball teams that were competitive to a fault, but allowed younger kids to have their moments to shine. When someone got a nasty spike, they roared like a gorilla defending it's territory which was followed by playful shoves, high-fives, and a ton of splashing. When we tired of that, we had a slam-dunk contest, where we got louder and louder with each epic dunk. Once the dunk king was crowned, we finished the night off with the human cannon. The college-aged serving ones would form a small circle in four feet of water. Then one by one, the jr. high would swim to the inner circle and place their feet on the serving ones' hands. Then the kid would get into cannonball form and the serving ones would bob up and down while counting down from three. After they got to one, the kid was launched as far as they could be thrown into the deep end. Yes I did take that ride and let's just say I made a splash.
About the time the clock struck 10PM, it was time to return to our building to wind down and soon drift off to sleep. Thinking that would happen so smoothly was wishful thinking at best. After a full day of fun and being able to stay up later than normal, the last thing a kid wants to do is go to bed. But the serving ones did a good job and eventually got everyone in their rooms for the night...
---knock knock knock. I thought I was dreaming, but having realized I was being awoken at 1AM to the sound of actual door knocks, I didn't dare leave my bed. Tim B had woken up and went to see who was at the door. It turned out to be Jeff B, one of the main camp coordinators for the week. I faked being asleep while he talked to Tim. Apparently, someone was roaming outside of the building tapping on the first floor windows with lights on trying to scare the girls. Jeff asked Tim to go help him search for the culprit. They both grabbed flashlights and disappeared down the hall. I rolled over and tried to go back to sleep. Just as I was drifting off, I heard an ear-splitting scream. Then another. Then a lot of screams coming from downstairs. Now wide awake, I jumped out of bed, ran out of the room, and made my way to the railing. There in the middle of the main floor was most of the girls all in one big cluster. Many of the other boys who had woken up joined me on the railing. No one had any idea what was going on. Jeff B came back in and calmed everyone down then asked everyone to return to their rooms and go back to bed. That's it? I thought. No explanation? Since my parents were staying in the motel section, I wanted to make sure they were okay. I had a small cut on my foot that was fine, but it did look like it could use some attention. So I asked Jeff to take me over to the motel. Surprisingly he did. We woke my dad up and he got me a band-aid from their supply. Seeing that they were all good and my toe was bandaged, I told Jeff we could go back. We walked back through the dark to the sounds of the night critters and I returned to a quiet building with everyone back in their rooms. I crawled into bed and finally fell back asleep.
The next morning during breakfast, I approached Jeff B and asked him what last night was about. He said they weren't sure who, but a girl complained about tapping on her window and thought she saw something wandering outside. Word was brought to Jeff and he recruited Tim B to go check it out. Word had spread amongst the girls who were awake that there was a prowler on the loose. Some were noticing flashlights and went to the windows to see if they could see who it was. In reality, it was Jeff and Tim searching for the mysterious tapper. But some of the girls did not know that and Jeff didn't want to scare them so in the moment, he held the flashlight up to his face so they could see it was him when they looked out the windows. Unfortunately, the light cast shadows over his face, making him look terrifying. Some girls thought he was the tapper and ran out of their room screaming causing others to follow suit. Jeff did end up chuckling about it even though it was a long night for him. There were other groups not associated with us utilizing other parts of the camp for the week. Jeff had his suspicions that it was someone from one of those groups trying to pull a prank, but the culprit was never caught so that is one mystery that won't be solved.
With that I conclude part two of this JHC recap. I have one more part to tell as it contains a crucial change in my life as well as other memories that mattered. Until next time.
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