Outward Bound
By Tristan Lee
Midtown Academy, 8th grade
Monday
Nervous faces, wandering minds, tired faces and even people full of sugar or caffeine—all these things were seen walking into the crowd of people. Me, being me, I walked away from the crowd of people and said goodbye to my dad, who kindly drove me here. The slight breeze in the wind pushed against my long hair as I wondered what to do while waiting. My class stood in front of the building of Outward Bound, what an odd name. Then with a slight gesture of the hand, I was invited to join the talkative group. We laughed nervously as we predicted ridiculous tasks they would give us. Allan suggested we race out to the open field, top speed. Laughing, we ran, and unfortunately I ended up sliding in the mud, covered in dirt.
The instructors introduced themselves as Chris, Eric and Jeff. After the short introduction they lead us to … a pole. Pointing at the top, Mr. Eric told us to climb as far as we could. At the top, we were to yell what we would contribute to the course. Timid and fearful, we went one by one. Yelling in shaky voices, we said things like, “I will bring a positive attitude and confidence!”
After meeting with Antonio, a Native American descendent with many amazing and jaw dropping stories, we were given a map to our lunch. Making our way down and lead by Jahi and Sunny, we found our way to two comfortable picnic tables covered with food. We rushed down the hill and ate a nice burrito lunch.
Then we packed the bags we had to carry. Weighing around 40 pounds when packed, these bags were not to be underestimated.
After a bumpy drive we found ourselves at the sleeping spot. Eating, playing and arguing all came next; however, the best part of the whole night was sleep.
Tuesday
The sun had finally started to rise and so did those around me. With a tired face, Allan noted that we seemed like old men, waking up with a stiff back and waddling to our toothbrush. After an odd breakfast of powdered milk and Cheerios, we began talking about service. Eric said something that I found very true,
“We have so much, so we need to help those who are less fortunate.”
Walking out of our group circle, we began cleaning the wetlands of Living Classrooms Foundation, our sleeping spot. My buddy Tovi seemed to have fun with the trash grabber.
We then had to face a very long hike through
We ended up in
Wednesday
THUWP! I awoke to a peculiar beat, odd. Then I realized I had hit my head, and I heard laughter, um… odd. Then there was more laughter, and I am starting to get freaked out. I looked up to see the hallway blood red. I freaked out and jumped up, only to see a red exit sign. Well that still doesn’t explain the laughter, oh well.
Later I woke to the shuffling of sleeping bags. Brushing our teeth after more yummy cereal, we exchanged ghost stories. Twins named Mitch and, uh, Mike, I think, explained our service project. We were to help the gardening process at Reach, a nearby school. We lifted heavy stones, raked, laid stone dust, laid stones, slacked off and got back to work. In the end, it looked very nice. They had nice sitting areas and, umm, stone dust.
Then, the dreaded moment: we got maps to our next sleeping spot. More groaning, more hiking and more arguing lead to a pointless walk. Of course, we still made it. Stretching, we laid down on the dusty floor of the Church of the Guardian Angel. I hung out inside while others played basketball. Tovi, Tristan-Jackson Brown and I all learned a neat bottle rhythm that remains stuck in my head.
Dinner came from outside, I guess, and we pigged out on burritos. Then after an amusing skit by Mr. Chris and Mr. Jeff, we went to sleep, hoping not to eat any bugs in our sleep.
Thursday
Wakey, wakey guys. It’s our last full day! We awoke knowing that the last day was dawning. Then we received the task of cleaning the church. Oh yeah, that’s an everyday drudgery—to clean a church. But I’m being sarcastic; it wasn’t too bad. And, hey, we got to eat oatmeal!
We then made a long hike to the American
Mr. Ford had kindly taken us to a friend’s restaurant that hit the spot. We ate the most amazing spaghetti and even got to see them make the noodles. Then, sitting in the fridge, the cook explained how they got their crops from a farm. Standing in a fridge sounds odd, but that's what we were doing.
With full bellies, we were led to our sleeping spot, Solo Gibbs, an after-school program for kids, or at least that's what it looked like. Best of all, they had a foosball table. We played and played, then slept and slept.
Friday
Okay, so we all have irregular sleep habits. Tovi woke up under the foosball table, with the foosball in his hand. I, however, walked out the door and locked myself outside during my sleep. Ten minutes later, a very confused Mr. Ford and a tired Mr. Chris let me in.
Okay, we became independent! That morning the instructors said they were not going to help at all. We were to be packed and leave at 7:30 to get back to Outward bound.
“Hurry it up! Pack your bags and help me with the dishes!” I yelled as I speed-washed a pot and serving spoon. While drying the pot, I put my jacket on and tied my shoes. Others put on their packs and waited for us to be ready. Then, with a satisfying click, I clipped a backpack and walked outside.
On an awkward bus ride, with people eyeballing our 40-pound backpacks on our laps, I took a short nap. Allan told me to get up, and I left the bus saying my thank you to the driver.
We arrived at Outward Bound and unpacked and cleaned the gear. Mr. Eric signaled for us to sit around some "patches of excellence" buried in the ground. One by one, we took them out of the dirt and said why we thought we deserved it. Mine said,
