Eli is a city kid, through and through. He grew up in a neighborhood with houses, apartments, cement and concrete. He is a kid who other kids look to judge if something is cool, stupid or worth your time. He is also 10.
When Eli came to camp it was a new, foreign world to him. There were more trees than people, a lake and not a pool and more bugs than he could handle. The adults were barely adults by legal age and many of them had funny accents and kept calling soccer football. He was expected to sing silly songs, play in the grass and be perfectly fine with all of this and at the end of the day talk about how he felt and what he learned. Needless to say, Eli was not having it. Eli pushed buttons, sometimes ran away from activities he didn’t want to do and ABSOLUTELY refused to go on the overnight camping trip where his cabin would be sleeping in the woods in a tent.
Eli’s counselors gave it their best shot. They talked to him, encouraged him and told him how much fun it would be if he would just try. His counselors knew that whatever anxiety Eli had, all the kids would have. If he was cool with the overnight, then everyone would be. He was not cool with the overnight. There would be bugs and no one could guarantee there won’t be any bugs in the tent.
We knew the overnight would be hard for his cabin so we were able to give the counselors some extra help with the Leadership staff stepping in to make it more fun for everyone. The night came and we managed to get everyone out to the site. Cooking dinner over a fire, playing flashlight games in the woods and eating s’mores were ok. Then came bed time. Eli refused to sleep. He refused to lay down. He insisted on going back to his cabin.
Counselors pulled out all their tricks from all their years of experience and training. They reasoned, they bargained, they encouraged. Eli saw right through it and he fought. It was hard. Late into the night, around 2 am, kids were asleep, except Eli. A counselor gave him an extra sleeping bag and a mosquito net to go over his head. Still he fought sleep. Just as Eli was almost asleep, exhausted from fighting, he sat up and said I need to tell you something. He thanked his counselor for staying with him. He said I know this hasn’t been easy and I still hate it, but I think I can sleep now. And a few minutes later he drifted off, at least for a couple hours.
That’s the moment Eli got it. He got what camp was about. It’s not about the activities. It’s about the people who are with us when we are doing them. It’s about doing something that seems impossible. It’s about facing fears and it’s about the people who don’t give up on you.