Challenge By Choice

Each night at camp, cabins end the day with an Evening Embers discussion together. They talk about the day’s adventures, frustrations, achievements, and goals. Each week there’s a theme to help shape these Evening Embers discussions. This week’s theme has been Courage. Going along with this theme, Thursday’s Evening Embers questions were about perseverance, and today’s will be about grit, both important factors when it comes to courage.

Grit has been defined as “intentional effort, perseverance, and passion for long-term goals.” Grit is something you have to practice and develop, like any skill. When a camper sets a goal, it might take him courage to begin, perseverance to continue, and grit to see it through to the end. The first week of camp is the perfect time to set goals for the remainder of the session, and as we come to the end of the first week of June Camp, I asked some campers and counselors about the goals they had set for themselves.

Cobin is currently a Challenger and is halfway through his Ranger progression in mountain biking. He’s determined to reach that next level by the end of this session. Co-head of mountain biking, Lew, was Cobin’s cabin counselor last year and has been able to see his growth and perseverance on the bike again this summer. “It’s cool to see him back this year,” Lew said. “He’s really blossoming.” Cobin was on a Tsali 3-Day trip as Lew and I spoke, continuing to work on his mountain bike skills. “His goal for the summer is to not do any full days of his activity schedule,” Lew said. Cobin wanted to be out on trips as much as possible!

Two of the tasks Cobin still has to complete for his progression are trail maintenance and headset maintenance on his bike. Additionally, the steep hill between nature and the F.A.R.M. will test Cobin’s perseverance this year, since he is still trying to make it to the top without stopping. “He got 3/4ths of the way up without putting a foot down last year,” said Lew. “I think he’s on track to get Ranger this session.”

While Cobin is busy setting goals for riding bikes, Sam from Cabin 16 was setting goals for riding horses. “I want to reach Challenger this session,” he told me. It would take a lot of perseverance for Sam as well, who was trying to sign up for a riding lesson every day. “It’s my favorite activity for sure,” he said. To become a Challenger in horseback riding, you have to begin cantering and complete a trot pole course.

While some campers like Sam and Cobin have specific goals they’re trying to achieve and persevere towards, others just want to have fun. The progression levels at activities are just an additional way that campers can set goals for themselves if they choose. For some campers, just coming to camp and learning they can be independent for the first time is an exercise in perseverance itself. The best part about camp is that everything is “Challenge by Choice,” so boys can choose the level of involvement they have in any activity. While they can’t choose to do nothing, they do have the power to choose their schedule, goals, and any trips each day. Here’s to another day of choosing our own goals & adventures!