I survived. And I have stories.

Even as early as freshman year, Senior Outward Bound is an omniscient event, dreaded and feared by most if not all students at Cape Fear Academy. Four days in the woods with no shower, eating “bird food”, and probably most importantly no connection to the outside world, is enough to make most people VERY intimidated by the concept of Outward Bound, and not to excited about the trip. However, if you talk to most seniors who have returned, 90% of the time they give great feedback, and highly recommend that you not only go to Outward Bound, but that you have a positive attitude and get excited about it! I am confident when I say that I am now one of those seniors.

Although I can’t say I was “stoked” about the idea of going to the wilderness, I can say that I was open to whatever was in store, and went in with a positive attitude. After the 6 hour car ride, I enjoyed my “last supper” at Sbarro’s Pizza in Haynes Mall, Winston Salem. As I devoured the food, I dreaded at the thought of not being about to have any grease like this for a week! But in retrospect I had NOTHING to fear. Though I would be hiking like a lumberjack, I ate like a king! Outward Bound makes completely clear at the beginning of the trip that they are going to “challenge your heart, mind, and physical strength, but NOT your stomach” and they were not lying. Though the food was not gourmet, it far exceeded my expectation and I enjoyed every meal.

The second concern that a lot of people have is the hiking. And while I cannot say that you will not hike…or that you will not hike far (because you do), I can say that it is nothing you can’t handle. I’m not exactly the biggest crayon in the box, but I was able to hold myself together, and so was everyone who participated. Not to mention that it is truly rewarding when make it to the top of a mountain, and look out over Table Rock, and see the beautiful mountains of Western North Carolina. It’s an experience that is truly unforgettable. But to me, solo night was the most frightful, and intimidating activity that was on the Outward Bound itinerary. The woods. At night. Pitching a tarp. All alone..not exactly something that I’d normally look forward to.

However, after experiencing Outward Bound in full, I found it to be one of the best experiences that I encountered on my journey. Honestly, I didn’t think that I would be nervous about solo night at all. I felt confident after learning how to pitch a tarp the night before, and after championing table rock, and climbing 4 miles I thought that the toughest days were behind me..Boy was I wrong. Just before we left to find our solo sites, the ran began to roughly pour from the dark sky, and before I knew it, it was pitch black and I couldn’t even see my shaking hands in front of my face. A couple minutes had past, and it was finally my turn to find my site. My instructor’s name was Nathan Plunket, and I will never forget the words he said before leaving me in the middle of the woods in the dark that night. He looked at me with a relaxed smile and said “welp, I guess I’ll see ya’ in morning.” And casually strolled away. I was devastated! I had never been so alone in my life. No phone, no ipod, no one within eye site, and not even a book to occupy my mind. It was just me, my tarp, the rain, and the wilderness. After pitching a mediocre tarp, I crawled inside nervously, and tried desperately to get comfortable in my sleeping bag on top of the cold wet ground. Surprisingly, I was able to fall asleep fairly quick. But about 10 minutes later, I woke up to the rush of cold rain below me. Somehow, the rain seemed to find its way into my tarp, and not only left me soaked, but my clothes, that were stuffed in a drawstring bag so I could use it as a pillow, were as well.

I had never been so scared, frustrated, or tested in my life. There was no “out” for me. No phone to call a friend to talk to. No music to soothe me to sleep, nor was there anyone to talk to. I began to jot the “6 month” letter to myself, that will be mailed to me, just in time for my birthday in March. It was an awesome time for me to reflect on a lot of different things. Myself, my family, my goals, etc. I ended up putting a lot more into the letter than I thought, and before I knew it I had written a 4 pages front and back! As a senior approaching college, this opportunity to reflect was very beneficial and I was able to stop and think about the past 4 years, and what I was able and not able to do. It was no doubt an experience that I will take with me for the rest of life.Although the wind was blowing, and the rain was pouring, I learned so much from that night, and for the first time in a long time, I was truly alone…
Although my trip was fun, I was more than ready to hop on that bus Friday. The trip was filled with stories from my classmates, and we all had something to share about our trip, and especially our solo nights. We were all ready to get back to Haynes Mall and chow down on the quality fast food of which we felt deprived of for four days. It was almost strange how many people walked around with the people in their outward bound groups throughout the mall…we no doubt had built bonds with one another, and even if we weren’t that good of friends before, it seemed that the trip had made us grow closer.
My first day back at CFA there were a lot of questions. “How was it?”, “how did you survive?” “was it miserable?”, etc..While I cannot say that I am anxious to put another 65 pound backpack on and hike up some more mountains, I can say that I had one of the best and most beneficial experiences of my life. So for those upper schoolers who are dreading outward bound-please ignore the hype. If I could make it, so can you.
-Cecil

The Cape Fear Diversity Club!

This is Diversity Club’s third year, and judging by the club fair, we’re expecting it to be the best.
We had 65 signatures on our sign up sheet, and have over 40 returning members. We’ve had some
pretty great activities including, having a holocaust survivor come to speak to the school, and raising over 1,000 dollars for Breast Cancer awareness. Our goal this year, is to be a part of atleast 4 or more service and fundraising activities,and plan to do a lot more education of diversity not only in CFA, but in the greater Wilmington community.Some activities we are planning include, a trip to charlotte for the NC Diversity conference, a fundraiser for the prevention of human trafficking (which is currently a huge issue throughout the globe), and some very other interesting and engaging opportunities. One incentive we want to have for our members are community service hours, which will not only give them a chance to be a part of hands on service activities, but will help them with their hour requirements as well.
This year should be a great one for Diversity Club!
-Cecil