~Daniel McGowan, Class of 2024:

 Teamwork & Community

Over the summer when I heard that we were returning to Windsor Mountain for our senior class trip instead of going to Camp Belknap, I wasn’t very excited. I wanted something new that we hadn’t done before. But by the end of the trip, I felt lucky that I got to return as it was so much better than the last time we had gone. On this trip teamwork and community played a huge part in what made this trip great.

Many hands make light work, and in this case, many feet made light work as we clung on to each other’s shoulders so nobody would wander off the path. For some reason, the entire grade decided to walk down to the waterfront in the pitch dark forest down a muddy hill. It was so dark that you could barely see the outline of the person in front of you. Everyone was yelling “Fitz!” So that even if Fitz talked, no one would hear him. But after we finally got down to the waterfront after 15 minutes of slowly moving towards there. What we saw was pretty incredible. The still water reflected hundreds of stars back into the night sky, not even a ripple moved in the lake. The floats in the lake were still, slowly moving back and forth in place. Everyone gathered around Fitz next to the water as he yodeled across the lake. His voice bounced back to us for a few seconds before it eventually died out. We all had to work together to get down to the waterfront. Nobody really knew who was next to them or where they were, but that didn’t really matter. We all were going to the same place and we got there together.

Teamwork makes everything easier, this was proven when I tossed the ball up against the backboard for Andy to grab and dunk through the hoop right above Jack’s head. The rim was low enough so that any one of us could dunk on it. So it was more of a competition of coolest dunk than an actual 5v5. Jack was the laughingstock of everyone because he was as tall as the rim but was easily the worst player there, his height was his only saving grace. Everyone was hungry, we were waiting for snack for a while and were trying to pass time so we started a 5v5 half court game on the lowest hoop. Most people were getting tired at this point but everyone kept playing. It had rained earlier that day so whenever the ball got past the backboard and into the grass it came back coated in water, which nobody liked. The clouds looked like it could start pouring rain at any second and there was a cold breeze that we all had gotten used to. Basketball is a very team oriented sport. Yes, while one person can dominate the court, it would be much harder without a team because one person can’t play defense on five guys, or can’t pass to himself. Playing basketball with my classmates helped me get to know them better.

Community is something special, so many different people from all different backgrounds come and make a new, different group. This was clear to me when we were all gathered around the campfire singing songs together, watching the thousands of stars above us. Everything else was quiet, we were like a rock thrown into water, we were the only ripple for miles. We talked about leadership, our hopes for the year, and everything else on our minds. You could feel the damp grass underneath you, laying on your back watching the stars twinkle. 

We couldn’t see anything past the light of the campfire. I was looking at the sky when Fitz hit a crescendo in Ghost Rider. “Yippee I ayyyyyye.” At the peak, a white streak shot across the night sky. A quiet went across everyone, only Fitz was the person making any noise as he finished the song. The campfire was a very fun experience and it helped me understand my classmates better. We shared our hopes for the year and what we wanted to accomplish. I got to know new people that I didn’t know well before and I got to know other people even better than I did before.

I learned that with a good community, working together becomes natural, then almost anything is possible.