Going away from home for the very first time is an enormous step. It’s a giant leap of faith that many don’t take until they’re at least 18. Don’t mean to rush things, but Skylemar guys are ready for college.
Of course you’ve done all the prep work, but it’s amazing to see what a boy can accomplish all by himself. He adapts to sharing a bedroom with a room full of brothers, makes his bed daily and even figures out how to clean a sink. He keeps track of his own things (well, sort of…) and learns to survive without yelling, “Mommm!...or...Daaaad! Where’s my soccer jersey?” Instead he just wears a lacrosse jersey.
On Trickey Pond there’s plenty to do for the very first time that makes you feel better than ever before. For some, it’s the first time swimming in a lake. It’s reassuring to see how clear the water is and to feel the sandy smooth bottom. Learning to sail and getting up waterskiing has life-long impact, and proves the theory that if you try, you will succeed.
There are quite a few first times here which the boys remember well into adulthood. Hitting a home run over the Fred Pierce Fence is a rite of passage, and many alums return to keep trying. Same with a bullseye on the archery range. The sweet sound of the arrow smacking into the gold center of the target is never forgotten.
When it comes to food, there are lots of chances. There are new ones to try and plenty of choices to make. For example, tonight’s menu board read “Pot Roast” as the dinner entrée. Although we New Englander’s didn’t give that a second thought, a surprising number of kids asked, “what’s pot roast?” Even more surprising was the number of guys who tried it for the first time and said, “it’s amazing”. The post-meal discussion determined it was really just brisket or roast beef, depending on where you’re from.
The most powerful firsts involve settling an argument, standing up for what’s right and figuring out that the secret to happiness involves doing for others. It’s all in an average day here at Skylemar, where everything is anything but average.
