Alumni Memories
I watched my son pedal away on his new bike with little help from me or my husband. Our role was only a matter of holding the seat while he climbed aboard, and then he was off in a hurry. He had gracefully transitioned from a small toddler’s balance bike to what he deemed his “big boy bike with pedals” with little interruption, and we were so proud.
As my cab emerged from the Midtown Tunnel into Manhattan, I noticed a Christmas tree lot at one end of an overpass. As long as I can remember, I’ve associated New York City with Christmas, though not on a personal level. Rockefeller Center, ornate department store windows and holiday musicals have always come to mind when thinking about holidays in the city.
My favorite part of Mini Camp this year – and every year, for that matter – is the sense of appreciation these campers feel at the end of each day. At the close of dinner, the dining room is opened up for sharing of gratitude and highlights from the day. You cannot contain the joy that percolates in that room.
Before that summer, I was a girl who lived like a raindrop at the end of a pine needle. Playing fast and loose with time, a loner orb stained by rebellion, questioning my worthiness, searching for my voice. Funny how when God calls, plans melt. Mine dripped all over the points of the steely mountains while the wide Colorado sky opened in torrents of holiness.
This is the fourth summer that we have sent at least one son to camp. I don’t usually think through why we’re signing them up each year; it’s just a given. Part of it, no doubt, is my own tremendous vault of camper and staff experiences in the background of consciousness.
In May, 12 alumni of DiscoveryBound’s National Leadership Council (NLC) worked on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, home to the Oglala Lakota Nation, through relief agency Wings as Eagles Ministries. Three of the alumni who participated – Kynan Witters Hicks (2010), Tia Goebel (2014J) and Shane Witters Hicks (2013) – share their thoughts about this weekend of service.
The DiscoveryBound National Leadership Council (NLC) was a program that changed my life in so many ways. I think one of the most significant ways – and one of my strongest memories – was from my service trip to Peru and, more specifically, our visits to the homes of people in the local community.
Every time I visit with someone from camp, I’m reminded of how special our time was together at the A/U Ranches. It doesn’t take long to reminisce over some story of laughing so much it hurt or overcoming some limitation that I marvel at today. These encounters are special and help me keep focused on the things in life that matter – love, laughter, friendship.
For many National Leadership Council (NLC) alumni, there is a lingering hunger to be of service to mankind. As former NLCers ourselves and leaders of the NLC Alumni Initiative, we get the chance to talk with NLC graduates about their future goals and ambitions as they move through college and young adulthood. We’ve found that the drive to be conscientious global citizens is permanently embedded in our daily activity and likely won’t be extinguished.