It is Monday morning. I am on my way to Calvin Crest in Oakhurst to serve as a camp counselor for five days, Sept. 15-19.

Several thoughts relating to hard makeup homework, loss of sleep, and not seeing my friends for a week, haunted me. I’m starting to question my decision to go on this trip. However, the adventure was just beginning!

First of all I want say that I had the greatest cabin group…ever!

I knew I would be under some pressure to do a good job, as four out my five assigned students had older siblings in high school at FC.

Prior to Calvin Crest, I believed eighth graders to be both immature and unsure of themselves; for the most part, the class of 2013 proved me wrong.

Coming in, I thought that the hardest part about being a cabin leader would be getting the kids to stop talking and go to sleep each night. However, this was not an issue as my cabin went right to sleep when I asked them to.

One night after we told some scary stories and talked for a while, I said it was time to go to sleep. The cabin was silent for about 15 minutes, enough time for one of the students to fall asleep and begin snoring.

Unable to fall asleep, because of the excitement of the day and also the snoring, the remaining five of us stayed up until 1 a.m., hanging out and talking (Oops rules violation). We even stacked four extra mattresses up against the snorer’s bed in an attempt to quiet the racket.

One reason I loved my cabin group was because of their obedience that night. We had been talking for three straight hours, but when I told them to go the bed, nobody made another sound the entire night. Surprisingly, despite getting a late start that night, I got my best sleep of the week.

Shortly after our arrival at the camp it was time for lunch. I am a big fan of food so it was great that their food was restaurant quality.

Following a monotonous overview of the camp by one of the outdoor ed staff (at the end of which all six of the students at my table were half-asleep), we received the green light to dig in. Consequently my favorite meal was that first one: burritos with all the fixings.

Of the three outdoor ed classes I attended, “Rock your World” was the best-and not because I learned a lot about rocks. During the class we, hiked up hills, gave each other piggy back rides, ate wild apples and hung out at a waterfall.

Later that night after dispatching several challengers in ping pong, I worked my way up to play Joel, one of the outdoor ed staff. He topped me 11-8 in our intense battle?I blame it on his home-table advantage.

Finishing off each day in powerful fashion, the evening program at the amphitheater created lasting memories for students, cabin leaders and teachers alike. The staff warmed up each night with a few silly songs such “Dirt made my lunch,” and “Scat makes the World go Round.” Then we transitioned into soul-searching worship music and a testimonial from one of the FC teachers.

Many memorable moments took place at the amphitheater, but the greatest of those was when we sang “Lean on Me”?because the atmosphere during those five minutes was magical. The whole amphitheater seemed to radiate happiness.

Although several different experiences made the week amazing, one in particular stood out to me.

On Friday morning after the bags were packed, an intense wrestling session ensued, while (cabin leader Daniel) Hopper played background mario music on his guitar. The highlight was Brandon (McCormick) and I beating Hunter (Weberlow) and John (Beck) in a tag team match.

Mr. (Terry) Richards knocked on the door after a half-hour and with obvious understanding of the activities of teenage boys simply announced that it was “time to clean up.” And with that he walked out.

My final conclusion on the experience: Although I was forced to make up loads of homework, managed only about five hours of sleep a night and didn’t see my friends for a week, it was all worth it! The trip was special because I got to learn leadership responsibilities, miss a week of school, hang out with a great group of kids, and be in the mountains?all for free!

In the end, the supposably hard makeup homework was easy, the loss of sleep did not bother me that much, and I made a ton of new friends.

The good times at camp greatly outweighed all that I missed by taking a week off. This was one of my best high school experiences so far, and one I would recommend to all high schoolers at FC.