Week four is a bit of a transitional week for our Okees. As I looked at them this morning having breakfast, I could almost sense that they feel the days of their final summer slipping through their fingers like grains of sand. As visiting day approaches, there is already the realization that everything they do from this point on will likely represent the last time they do it as campers. They checked off the box as they took their final bows at the Senior Big Show.
This morning, many of our Okees were dressed in their basketball uniforms and made their way over to one of the more iconic tournaments held in our region. Our boys battled hard and made it to the finals, knocking off the host team in the semis only to fall short to another impressive squad. The experience these 15-year-old boys share, whether on the stage or the court, creates an incredible bond that is much deeper than even those connections formed at school. Your boys are living together, sharing responsibilities in the bunk, sitting shoulder to shoulder in our dining room for three meals every day, and competing together when their heart rates are elevated, their legs are exhausted, and they feel they have nothing more to give.
The extra gear that they find, the motivation to do their best, comes from the deep and meaningful connections they have formed over the last seven to nine years.
When I communicate with parents who have children here for their first or second summers, it’s sometimes hard to articulate the obstacles and challenges their son may need to face in order to develop grit and earn the respect of their peers. I truly believe that the success our oldest boys are having in their final summer is directly tied to the bonds they formed as younger campers.
It will be a busy week. The Okees’ final Takajo Carnival will take place on Wednesday. They will run our Rookie Day on Thursday, welcoming in a new group of younger campers to create a seamless thread, indoctrinating a new class of campers into the culture they have so deeply embraced at Takajo.
