Have you ever had to do something that you don’t want to do? Have you been put in a position where there is nothing you can do but to face your fears? As I say goodbye to my parents I convince myself that I won’t make it. I will not be able to survive the week. Tears began to flow; holding them back was a challenge within myself. Who ever had invented the word goodbye was trying to ruin my life.
“You’ll be fine, have the best time,” are the last words I hear my mom say as they fade in the distance.
No I will not. Are you crazy? I am going to hate it! Thanks for putting me through the worst week of my life. Negative thoughts rushing to my mind. Sleeping out is my least favorite thing to do. Who knows what was going through my insane mind when I told my mom that I would go. Maybe because I am going to an amazing place for gymnastics, which is one of my favorite sports. Maybe because I was spending a week with my best friend. But then there is the fact that I am two hours away from my comfortable home.
My alarm goes off and today is the day. I could barely keep my eyes open since I was up all night scared out of my mind. I didn’t think this day was here. However, I couldn’t sit around and worry about it right now. I have a softball tournament and my coach is expecting me. I have my first game at 7:30 and after that I head out for Pennsylvania. As I play in my game this morning I can’t focus on my playing, all I am worried about was that I was going to sleep away camp today. I didn’t even care about the fact that I played great and we won, all I care about is getting this week over with. Pulling away in my car waving goodbye to all my friends it hit me; there is no turning back.
Just when I thought that my nerves couldn’t get worse, they did. The car ride up there is one of the worst trips in my life. For two hours I am sitting in the car and I am thinking about what is ahead of me. All I thought about is that I am not going to be in my normal environment for a whole week and my family will be two hours away. I listen to my parents going on and on about how I am going to be fine and I will love it. The weird thing is that every time they say that I get worse and worse. My stomach fills with nerves as we pull in. All I want is for this to be a dream and I wake up and I am in my bed, but then I say it isn’t a dream it isn’t even a nightmare, it is reality.
Unpacking was no fun. Seeing that for the next week I am going to be living with strangers and that I am going to live out of three draws. I lay on my new bed and I discover that for the next week I will be doing six hours of gymnastics a day and I will be sleeping on a deflated mattress. I just wanted to go home. The worst is the menu I looked at. I saw what we will be eating for the week and nothing sounded appetizing. I cried with fear. I never knew I could be homesick with my family right next to me. The bell rings and my parents have to leave. I am crying and I knew what I had to do. Saying goodbye is the worst thing invented. I want to go home with my parents but I knew that wasn’t an option. I give them a hug goodbye and cry all the way back to my cabin. Nothing could be worse.
It is Saturday morning and I lasted the week. I am in the car with my mom, my best friend Sydney and her mom. We are going on and on about how we had the best time and loved it. We tell them that we got their emails and went jet skiing and we even are talking about how we loved the slushies they sold. As we talk about how we met Olympians and went laser tagging in the woods I stop and think to myself. I did it and it was one of the best weeks in my life. I don’t know what I was so scared of. I know I can do anything.