~Sebastian Schnelldorfer, Class of 2024

Skrrrrrt! The sound of the bus rolling into the parking lot and eventually braking abruptly. Cool, post-rain forest air floods the bus as the doors open. We are there finally. As I step off the bus, I feel the crunch of gravel under my feet and smell the forest air for the first time in a while. After a long bus ride, we finally arrived at our destination, Windsor Mountain, Windsor New Hampshire, a summer camp that is part of a Fenn tradition to go there at the beginning of the 8th and 9th grade year. For Fenn 8th graders, Windsor Mountain was one of the best trips that they had ever taken, but sometimes things can go wrong during the trip to make it less fun. I know that everyone during and after the trip all felt the lasting bonding experiences that we all shared together from our short time at Windsor Mountain.

It was around 1:30 p.m. when we arrived and the cool, crisp wind hit my face as I walked toward the cabin. Getting to the cabin and eventually dropping off my stuff I prepared for the full day ahead. The kids in my cabin chose their beds and introduced themselves as Ruben, Daniyal, Anthony, Luke, Ilan, Milo, Tristan, Juwan, James, Peter, Remi, and Zach. *Then we went into this building that smelled like socks to do some group-building activities. While walking to the lunch hall after doing some activities, Hanwen Tang was still bragging to me about how he beat me in the game FIFA mobile on the bus ride. After the first night, I woke up with the rest of the cabin at approximately 8:30 in the morning to get ready for everything. Our first day was a very fun day with canoeing, low ropes, and more. At the end of the day was our first campfire of the trip. I could feel the heat of the crackling fire and the sounds of the wind looking at the stars while we reflected on the day as people sang songs and told stories. Finally, at the end of the day, we went back to our cabins to be well-rested for the day ahead

The second day was already upon us even though there was a very chaotic night in the cabin. Already on the second day, we could feel our relationships strengthening with activities like cooking, sports activities, music, and more. After all activities were over, we entered the period everyone was excited for, free time. Free time was one of the best periods of the day.  I could meet with friends that weren’t in my advisory therefore not doing anything with them for the entire day, causing me to bond with my already existing friends even more. 

During free time all the advisories split apart going all around the mountain with their friends. Myself and my friends decided to go to the field. The field had 2 soccer nets on each side with balls scattered around. My friends and I decided to play a game with each other with rules that we didn’t follow in the slightest. For a while, we played until finally the bell had rung and people started going in. My friends said one more shot and then I heard a giant whoooosh! Behind me seeing one of my friends shoot one of the most powerful shots that I had ever seen. Finally, after all the excitement I went into the dining hall to smell delicious food that was ready to eat.

After the final campfire of the trip on the second night, it was finally our last day at Windsor Mountain, but our most fun. After breakfast was our first activity: high ropes, one of the hardest activities on the mountain. Up there on the ropes, I feel the chilling wind against my face cooling me until I’m shivering. After much struggle, it was finally over but it was time for the final activity of the trip. The waterfront. At the waterfront, there were many activities including swimming, a water trampoline, and a sauna. With my swim clothes on, I jumped into the cold water already regretting my decision. 

I quickly climbed up to the trampoline to get out of the water but it was even worse up there. The hard plastic covering with other people jumping on it caused the trampoline to be very hard to stand on without falling off. After a while, I finally decided to get off the trampoline realizing that it was far worse than staying in the water. However, the water was still very cold after I jumped in so I was forced to hastily swim ashore. After the disaster with the trampoline, I waited for some time sitting on the shore shivering from the water still on my body. 

After I had sufficiently recovered I heard a huge splash, and I turned around to see that everyone on the trampoline had jumped off and was swimming to shore. They were heading toward the rope swing. It was a rope tied to a tree that went into the water. The goal was to hold onto the rope until you got far enough out so you could let go and drop into the water. For whatever reason, I decided to follow them and try it out even though I knew that I had none of the courage to do it but I built it up and did it anyway. 

Then finally it was my turn. I held onto the rope and jumped. Splash! The bone-chilling water enveloped me as I fell and I realized that it wasn’t so bad after all and it was kind of fun. I went many more times until eventually I got bored and headed to the final activity of the waterfront. The sauna. The sauna was a heated room inside the small building on the waterfront that had a heater that when you poured water on it steamed. I finally went into the sauna Once I opened the door the sound of high-pitched screeching came from Ilan as I had opened the door. 

According to them, I had opened the door just as they had got the room to a good temperature. To redeem myself they forced me to get more water from the lake for new water to make it steam up again. When I entered they were all calmed down and finally happy once the steam was created again. We were all happy until one of the kids that were supposed to be canoeing came in and let out all the steam all again. We made him get more water and once he came back and finally got it to steam then Bang! Another kid from canoeing entered, letting out all the steam once again. We were all screaming once again but this new kid refused to get more water and we grudgingly realized that we couldn’t do anything so one of us had to go to get more water. 

After he came back with the water the kid that refused to get the water opened the door because there was no light in the sauna letting out all the steam and heat once again. He decided to open the door 4 more times until the bell finally rang letting us leave and get ready for our final meal of the trip. 

The final meal of the trip was a simple but tasty sandwich that filled us for the bus ride back. Finally, it was time to leave, we said our last goodbye to the camp counselors and boarded the bus. The 1.5-hour bus ride back was filled with excitement that we would finally be back home but we were also reminiscing about the experience that we had. 

Finally, once we got back and touched Fenn soil, we remembered all the experiences we had and the bonding moments for us all. joy for our community on the Fenn campus