A Transitional Event

There I was, a skinny, tall, awkward freshman in high school. It was nearing the end of summer, and I had no idea what I was about to get myself into. The transition to high school was something that I was not looking forward to. Change is not my best friend; in fact change and I don’t like to meet often. Regardless, there I was packing my bag for a 4-day trip, a 4-day trip that would change my life. I was terrified. I was about to embark on the Technical Entertainment Crew’s (TEC) leadership retreat as the only freshman.  I had been asked to go by our faculty advisor, Mr. Poole but I had never really looked at myself as a leader before. I mean I had been a captain on a few sports teams and lead some small school group projects before but nothing that I thought was to extraordinary or exceptional.

I went out on a limb and put my trust in my parents and Mr. Poole and showed up anyways. I didn’t really know anyone and wasn’t quite sure how to act or what to expect. As I arrived at the school that fateful morning I was immediately asked to help finish putting labels on to dividers in the binders that we were going to be given for the week of meetings. I noticed something as I slid those seven labels into 11 different binders. First, these were the tasks we had to complete in the 4 days; second there were nearly 100 pages already there with space for notes, comments and even more notes. I was starting to realize that this might be a bigger deal than I had anticipated.

We went out to the van and loaded up all the gear, TV, duffel bags, backpacks, food, coolers, binders, practically everything you could think of. We all piled into the van, every seat was filled, the gas tank was full, the stuff was packed away and off we went on the 45-minute drive to the lake house that where we would be staying for the weekend.

That weekend I sat in countless hours of meetings, threw the football on a dry lakebed, sat out on a lake dock until the wee hours of the morning and many other things. At the last meeting on the first dayeverything started to click for me, I started to understand more about what was going on. I felt I could take on some responsibility and be a useful member of the organization. I was making friends with many of the people there and was starting to feel the “love” in a way. I was actually able to contribute to the conversation and understand those acronyms that were being thrown about. I noticed something else; I wasn’t using the mirror. Instead I was able to look everyone in the eye and pay attention to the meeting in first person rather than third person.

That night we played a game of Apples to Apples which was a tradition started many officer retreats before the one I went on. It was such a great time. We didn’t even play the game by the rules though, we made up our own rules, going for the funniest responses and just having a good time. I laughed so hard that my stomach felt as if it was going to explode. I was one of the guys; there was no more awkwardness, no more exclusion but now total inclusion. 

That trip was one of the experiences in my life that I will never forget. I know that sounds cliché but its true. There is a good reason for that, sure I made some good friends and had a fun time but little did I know at the time that the entire trajectory of my life had been altered.  Instead of following the path of the typical average high school athlete that I was, I found myself loving other things in life. TEC is the reason for my love of technology, photography, video, and leadership today. All of these are staples in my daily life. I can’t go a day without my iPhone, computer or camera. TEC is the only organization or association that I have ever bled, cried, screamed, or tired for and yet was happy every minute of it. I spent thousands of hours working with and for the Technical Entertainment Crew during high school, I was an officer all 4 of my years and elected president my last 2 years (something that has only been done twice before). I poured all of myself into that organization and got just as much out.