Outward Bound
By Jordan Gillespie
Midtown Academy, 8th grade
Monday. How could I forget that day? One of the longest days I can imagine. I arrived at Leakin Park very excited for a great week. We separated boys and girls. Our counselors were Ms. Liana and Ms. Katie. Then we got started.
Our first challenge, those tortured bookbags. At first, it wasn’t so heavy. Then we added clothes and food. Once I put it on, I realized it was going to be a long week.
A little later we faced our second challenge, the pole. It was long, almost too long. We had to climb up an unsteady ladder and then onto a narrow pole. As I looked at the pole, I received this horrible flashback. On my previous Outward Bound experience, my class had to climb up a rock wall. I was so determined to do it, but I didn’t make it to the top. That’s when it hit me: I could make it to the top of the pole. The wall was my past. This was a new beginning. With that confidence, I made it to the top. I felt like I was on top of the world!
Later that day, we were lucky to get a ride to a recreation center. That night, we played foosball, prepared our first dinner and slept.
“Ring, ring, ring!” That was Ms. Katie’s alarm telling us to get up. Tuesday. That day we had to wear the bookbags. It was challenging walking up Federal Hill with 30 pounds on your back and one strap broken. We went to the American Visionary Art Museum (AVAM), and I saw a piece that really struck me. It expressed gay rights. Later, we preformed skits with the same scenario but different results. It taught me how to solve problems. That night we slept at the Crossroads School.
Wednesday was like no other day. I had a great sleep and was ready to go! We did some service at a Baltimore American Indian Center. As we raked leaves, we encountered a woman who was excited to show us about her culture. We watched them celebrate a death. In their culture, they don’t cry at a ceremony, as they are happy for the life they had.
That night we had evening meeting, where we reflected on our day. We did this at Clifton Mansion. When I went to bed, I had no idea what was in store for Thursday.
Thursday hit. Boom. Smack in face. We had our morning meeting, where we assigned jobs. I was a navigation leader. My co-leader and I really needed to use our leadership skills when it came to group decisions. We had the opportunity to go to Giant (the grocery store) to add some pizzazz to dinner. We had a small budget and needed to satisfy everyone. That wasn’t as big of a challenge as the 3-mile hike to our sleep spot. It was pouring rain and dark. Not only that, but we thought we were lost several times and received no help from our counselors. We had to figure it out by ourselves.
The last day, Friday. We took the bus to Leakin Park and washed our raingear and book bags. Then we reunited with our families.
When I look back at the experience, I am glad I did it. After every challenge, I felt accomplished. I am a problem-solver, a risk-taker and a successful Outward Bound participant.
