Getting Out Of Your Comfort Zone
Morning Watch:
Every morning we gather by the lake to start with a quiet moment and a thought for the day together. Yesterday, William Walters shared a message for Morning Watch that continued this week’s theme of “initiative”, and talked about doing things out of your comfort zone. William has been teaching fly fishing at camp for 10 summers (since 2014), and is a 2nd grade teacher at Mills River Elementary School during the year.
During Morning Watch yesterday, William said,
“10 years ago, I made a decision to work at camp, which was definitely out of my comfort zone. Goody (Jim Goodrum, Staff Director for many years), asked me to teach fly fishing which I had never done before. I had to do lifeguard training, and I’m a terrible swimmer so that was really really hard. I wanted to quit a lot, but I stuck with it and made it through, and now I have Falling Creek to thank for many great things in my life. This includes some of the best friends I’ve ever had, a passion for fly fishing which I never knew I had, an amazing job, and working at Mills River Elementary. Falling Creek was also the main reason I moved to the Asheville, North Carolina area in 2020, which led me to eventually meet my wife.”
At the end of his message, William concluded by encouraging campers to spend this time at camp by trying things that might be out of their comfort zone. Things that might be hard or difficult or scary may lead to a discovery of something special. He also talked about continuing this practice back home in their schools and communities as well, and to not let opportunities pass them by just because they might be out of their comfort zone.
Evening Program:
Last night we played “Battle Royale”! This game was an exciting free-for-all, with the goal of being the last camper standing in each Cabin Line, or the last person of your age group to have their flag belt pulled. The game mimicked a popular multiplayer video game genre, with “last-man-standing” gameplay and both exploration and scavenging elements.
The “game map” started with the whole main area of camp, being open for players, but the counselors slowly shrunk the boundaries by acting as the “closing storm.” They could pull the flag belts of any campers who didn’t manage to stay inside the perimeter as the circle shrank at set intervals.
Each Cabin Line had their own flag belt colors for the game, so they could only pull the belts of boys in their same Line. While everyone was playing at the same time, Robinia campers were only competing against each other, Betula campers were only competing against each other, and so on.
The boys were released “into the game map” in waves so that they had time to spread out before the game started. They were free to form coalitions or alliances, but were advised to keep in mind that there will only be one winner from each Line!
Once a player’s flag belt was pulled, they were eliminated from the game and could join the “storm”. However, if they had scavenged camp and found one of the rare play balls hidden around the map, they could exchange those at Lucky Landing (the Grassy Knoll, also a safe zone) for another flag belt.
Playing this last-man-standing style game was a lot like enjoying a video game in real life, and everyone had a blast!
More Highlights from Thursday:
- Watercolor painting at the overlook
- Basic bike mechanics lessons at Moab
- Trotting pole lessons in the riding ring at Horseback
- Cooking campfire bread on a stick at the F.A.R.M.
- Making bookends in woodworking
Trips that returned yesterday:
- Dupont mountain biking day trip
- Pigeon River 2-day paddling trip
- Gilbert’s Rock climbing day trip
- The rest will be returning today from their multi-day adventures around western North Carolina!
We’re looking forward to a fantastic Friday today!