~Brett Wohletz, Class of 2024

Why I will Always Remember… 

“Courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it.” 

-Nelson Mandela 

As I walked into the cabin, smelling the strong scent of wood, with my soggy shoes, all I was thinking about was how much I was dreading being wet this entire trip here in Windsor Mountain for this school trip. If someone told me that I would build so many memories from this school trip and make so many new friends from just jumping into a lake, or playing with a balloon then I wouldn’t believe them. When you take risks, there will be a good outcome.  

There were twelve people during free time, on a Wednesday afternoon at the Waterfront. We wanted to go there all day, and we were tackling each other on the mat in the middle of the lake almost the entire time. I wanted to go on the rope swing because that’s all I’ve heard everyone talking about, and I did, but I think I let go too early but all that matters is that I did it. At the waterfront, you can see your reflection through the mirroring water, while feeling the cold brisk water hit your skin, or tasting the water get into your mouth, not purposely. When we were doing tackling drills all I could hear was people saying “3,2,1!” Before we would all tackle each other. At the waterfront, one of the biggest things I remember was the bad smell of it, as Jack said, “It’s a potent smell”. As I reflect on my experience at the waterfront, I remember how fun it really was and how great of an opportunity it was for me to have fun and be more comfortable with my fellow classmates. I think that this definitely made me a lot closer with them. 

Playing pickleball with Andy, Miles, and Ben, was a very fun part of this trip. It’s a Thursday morning, at the pickle ball courts, and I wouldn’t have played but Ben asked me to join in and to learn how to play. I enjoyed it a lot and this reminded me that when I try new things that good things will happen. When I was playing pickleball It has a distinct sound of the ball hitting the paddle. When it started to rain, I could feel the rain drops feel key skin while smelling the water hit the concrete courts. I can remember Ben yelling at everyone “C’mon!” Because he takes it a little too seriously. All I can taste is victory at the end of the game. Playing pickleball reminds me that I have to continue trying new things because as I learned, I really enjoyed playing pickleball and I didn’t expect myself to be playing pickleball.

Playing taskmaster was a very fun part of our trip. I had Miles, Ben, Bjorn, and Andy, on my team. It was a Wednesday night, it was our nightly activity, and more importantly, an opportunity for us to have fun with each other. This was a fun way for us to get out of our comfort zones. I had to make a mustache with random things I found in three minutes, or we also had to make a skit in 3 minutes, but of course we won. During task master, I remember I heard everyone yelling at their teammates to help them out and I remember when Ben was trying to sort things with his feet Miles just said “what in the world is he doing”. Unfortunately we aren’t allowed to wear shoes, so I remember all I could smell was the awful smell of feet the entire time. The Taskmaster really helped me get out of my comfort zone as well because we had to perform random tasks with little time to prepare ourselves. Similar to the waterfront, this helped me get to know or meet a lot of new people in my grade. 

Take risks, and good things will happen.