Yes You Can

What an incredible day we had today. The sun couldn’t have been brighter and everyone was feeling the rays of sunshine that covered us all from head to toe. Faces were painted, hair was sprayed, tutus were on in full force. The spirit on this camp was off the charts and our campers were in it to win it. It was a full day of Olympic games and activities and the competition was fierce, fair and fun. Every camper pushed themselves and pushed their friends to be the best they can be today. Just when you thought you gave it your all and you may have felt you were running out of steam, your entire team was cheering you on from the sidelines letting you know , YOU CAN DO IT!!!! That is what happened on every field and every court today. You CAN do it – That made all the difference. Our campers and staff dug down deep today and pushed harder then ever before.You saw it on their faces and in the grit of their effort.  To see the encouragement we give one another can move mountains. It’s the best part of our Olympic games. To watch a camper who thinks they can’t go one more step and see them get lifted up and encouraged by their team and that is where they soar higher than they ever thought they could. We become champions for one another and we learned how powerful we are together.

The night belonged to the Apache Relay and everyone had a part in the ultimate goal. Regardless if you leaped frogged from the lake to Chenny Central, threw 5 cards into a hat or had to sing Take Me Out To The Ballgame, we all mattered and everyone counted.  The Apache Relay is an incredible race of teamwork, endurance and an enormous amount of fun. The entire camp is used from top to bottom and everything in between. To participate in Apache is something that you will never forget and is a constant reminder that every single person on this campus, is important and an integral member of the team. Tonight, Gold Sweden crossed the finish line first followed by Blue Dominican Republic with Red Mongolia just a few minutes behind. After the first full day of competition it’s too close to call. There is another full day games tomorrow and as we all know it all comes down to SING!!!!!!!

I saw something tonight at Apache that literally took my breath away. As each camper got into position for their Apache event, there was GC boy up at archery who is on the Red Mongolia team and this camper happens to be very talented at this sport. Archery comes so easy to him and he loves doing it. He noticed next to him was a girl on the Blue Dominican Republic team, who was getting upset as she has never once shot an arrow at archery but yet was chosen for this event. She kept telling him that she couldn’t do it and she knows her team will be upset with her as both her competitors were pretty great at this event. With tears welling up in her eyes and defeat written all over her face, this GC camper spent the 30 minutes teaching her how to do it. He said, “I can help you, but first believe you can do this and then you will.” I couldn’t believe I was there to hear this exchange. He taught her how to hold the bow, he encouraged her to stay calm and then he was by her side until she hit the target. It was an incredible exchange to witness. He was selfless and kind to someone he didn’t know and it was to his competitor. When she hit the target, the look on her face was priceless and she ran over to the boy that helped her and jumped into his arms with a giant hug and thanked him for his help. He said in the sweetest way to her, “You just needed to believe in yourself” This is why Life is Great at Camp Chen-A-Wanda!

Chenny out.