16190_hackley

No, there wasn’t any music because there was no electricity. But, it was an awesome first
night/early morning.

By the end of the first week, I had a group of friends. Surelle, Phoebe, Skylar, Maddy
(her beautiful nickname, created by me, “Madu”), Naomi, and Eliana. Only a few of us were new
to camp, but we had figured it out by then. Surelle was very lively and silly. She was also really
good at gymnastics. Phoebe was really chill (except for when she was overtired), super nice, and
overall awesome. Skylar was super cheerful and light hearted. Although I wasn’t as close with
her as I was with the others, we could talk and laugh together. Maddie she was so ridiculous and
just a light-hearted person who you always wanted to be around. Naomi was still my camp best
friend like we said on day one. Eliana was so awesome too. She was really funny, sweet, and
kind. She was becoming my camp best friend. It was so nice being settled in.

That week I had tried wakeboarding. It was hard at first because the lake was so cold that
my teeth were chattering in the frigid water and my hands would slip. On the final day of focuses
that week, it was the first time I felt comfortable wakeboarding. I had my two favorite counselors
on the jetski, it was warm, and I had been working very hard to have a smooth wake cross. I did
a full lap of the lake, crossed my front foot wake, and did a 180°. It felt so awesome. I knew I
had to take wakeboarding again.

I was also in performance night that week. Performance night was where everybody
would perform what they have learned in their music/dance/acting focuses in front of the whole
camp. I did a mini play where I was Moana in the modern day world (you don’t need to tell me...
I know- it’s embarrassing.). I didn’t have to audition because I got it as one of my focuses that
week (we have 6 focuses a day, and the same ones for six days until we switch the next week.)

The performance went really well. This really quiet girl was playing Maui. She seemed nice and
very calm. We began to become good friends. Her name was Ruby and she was actually really
funny and cool.

Then came week two. I got to do wakeboarding again. This was the week where I had
some friend trouble. I had become friends with Hope, Annabelle, Ruby, and Zara. I was still
friends with the other girls, but I liked this new group, too. These new (to me) girls were sort of
mean girls looking back at it now. We spent all of trip day together. Trip day was every Tuesday.
We would go somewhere for the day and then get ice cream at the end. The next day they got rid
of me.

A few days after that, Hope came up to me and said, “You’re the nicest one in the bunk.
We should stick together.”

The bunk consisted of Elizabeth, Avery, Naomi, Harper, Phoebe, Hope and me.
Me being me, and falling for this said, “Sure!”
I walked over to my cubbie to grab my stuff. I was only a few feet away when I heard
Ruby say, “I thought you said she was annoying,” to Hope. That hurt. I thought they were my
real friends. At least I had friends that I could talk to and trust still, like Phoebe, Surelle, Naomi,
Skylar, and Maddie. The five of them were really the people I wanted to hang out with. The rest
of week two was a blur.
The final week of camp was the most exciting. It was the Fourth of July! We didn’t get
fireworks, but we got sparklers! It was so beautiful! I took out my polaroid camera and took
photos of my friends’ sparklers. They turned out amazing, and I will keep them for a really long
time! On the Fourth of July, we also got to wear whatever we wanted instead of our green and

white usual attire. The photographer also came to the gym where I had gymnastics and took an
awesome photo of me doing a handstand on the beam right before I rolled off and hit the tumble
track with my face. Oops!

The Flams (the oldest kids at camp) had their service. Service days are when we all wear
white and the bunks doing the service sing and talk about camp. It’s kind of boring, but the Flam
one was the best out of the 7th grade and the Penguin (second oldest campers) services. The
Flams all cry because they know this is the last one they’ll ever do. They also have some pretty
funny stories. One of them talked about how they really had to go to the bathroom and then peed
themselves in front of everybody. It was pretty funny!

Finally, the last night of camp rolled around. Everybody was really sad, but we knew all
the real tears would come when we would have to depart. It’s a camp tradition for all of the
campers to wheel our (what looked like at least) big drawers into the middle of the bunk and
sleep ​in them (yes, I just said we sleep in drawers). While we sat in our drawers, some Flams and
Cove sisters (Cove sisters are these older kids who you get assigned to and they guide you
through camp and are always there for you, usually check on you every night, and other stuff
like a big sister would) came to see us. My favorite Flam was Dorothy. She was just the best!
She always came to hang out with me and not with all of the other girls in my bunk. She will be
the one I will miss the most out of all the Flams.

Now, the last day of camp. After sleeping in the drawers, I woke up with a lot of cricks
and pains in my neck and legs, but I survived. Surelle, Phoebe, Naomi, Skylar and I all woke up
at around 5 am to say goodbye to Maddy. It was so sad! We gave her one final hug as she left to
get on the bus. We had tears already streaming down our faces this early in the morning. Well,

everybody but Naomi. She ​never​ cries. I don’t get it at all. That morning all the Flams had stayed
up all night and looked like the walking dead. We all hugged and cried more than I think I ever
have before.

So you’re probably wondering, what did I learn from this? Well, I learned that I should
be more independent and I don’t always need my parents to help me! Even though I was VERY
homesick at times, I got used to it. And I have to admit, it was a really great experience and I
can’t wait to try it again this summer, at a different camp!

Jordan LaRoche
“The Beginning of My Career”

My name is Jordan LaRoche and I am a ten year old competitive gymnast. Before I get into
my story, I’m going to take you back to when I first got into gymnastics.

It started back when I did cartwheels and roly polies in my basement at age six. It felt
really good because I loved gymnastics so much that I could basically do it almost anywhere.
Eventually, I started to get bored just doing those two skills. I wanted to try to teach myself how
to do new things. So I did. I taught myself how to do an “Aerial” as well. It was a lot easier to
learn than a back handspring for some reason. In order to do an aerial, you obviously need a
cartwheel. All you do is try to bring both of your legs to the other side before you hands touch
the ground. Its sounds harder than the back handspring because there are more steps, but at least
for me personally it was easier.​ ​ I think it was because the new thing I taught myself was a back
handspring. It took me a while to get it right, but eventually I got it.

During the process, I really became frustrated with myself because I had a huge mental
block about going up and landing on my hands. I overcame my fear, powered through, and did it.
I wasn't good at first because my legs would separate and I flopped a bit. I kind of looked like a
frog, but with practice, I got better over time. All I did was jump back onto my hands and land
on both feet at the same time. And it's that simple. At first it seems like one of the hardest skills
in the world, but now that I do it every day at practice, it's like one of the easiest. After that, I
wanted to learn how to do an aerial. If you don't know what that is, it's basically a cartwheel
with no hands. It was safer for me to practice where I could have instructors teach me how to do
new skills, the right way.

Eventually, I went to a gym in Chappaqua called World Cup. My cousin, Paloma, went
to that same gym. She was eleven at the time and I was eight. At first, World Cup was fun; I
was doing the skills that I did at home, but later in the year, after summer camp, I wanted to start
competing and actually be on a team, so I tried out for team and I did everything right. The
try-out was very easy, much easier than I thought it would be. But it was fine with me. All the
instructor made me do was some back handsprings, back walkovers and splits (very easy stuff).
About a week later, they told me the results which were pretty odd and upsetting. They told us I
was too old to be on team. Just as a reminder, I was only EIGHT, and they said I was too old.
Like what? We were all shocked. Apparently, you are supposed to be seven years old to start
team at World Cup, which made no sense to me because I saw people who were older than me in
my gym. We asked them why I needed to be younger. They said that they wanted the team to
grow up together, which we all thought didn't make any sense. To this day, I really can’t stand
World Cup Gymnastics. To be honest, they really are not that great at gymnastics. They were
being annoying, and I really wanted to compete, so we spent a couple of weeks trying to find a
new gym. Eventually, we found Westchester Gymnastics.

The people at Westchester Gymnastics are really nice and great to me! They can be a bit
strict when necessary, but I know it’s because they actually care and want us to be better
gymnasts. My favorite coach is probably Vanda because she is so nice and she is a really good
coach. She teaches me in a way that motivates me to actually do better. She always tells me
every practice not to be too hard on myself. She also says that I'm definitely one of the best
gymnasts on the team, but you can be the best gymnast on the team if you just believe in
yourself. That makes me really happy and helps me keep going and do it better.

When I first tried out for the team, I was very nervous because I REALLY wanted to
make the team. Guess what? I did! My first practice was a little awkward. I didn’t know any of
the people and I could tell that one little girl wasn’t too thrilled to have me there, and I think I
know why. All of my teammates told me that she thought she was the best at every apparatus.
Every tiny mistake I made, she felt that she had to correct me, and act like she was the coach.
That attitude made me a bit mad because I am pretty independent and know when I am doing
something wrong and I can fix it myself. Besides, the coaches can correct me. I’ve always
known bars was not my strongest skill. I definitely needed some work on that event. I didn't have
a mental block on this skill, unlike the back handspring. After, I taught myself both of those two
skills; I was very proud!

Once I realized that I was running out of skills to teach myself, I started to get a bit more
serious about gymnastics. I used to be so horrible at bars. I used to earn sixes and sevens in
competition (which is really bad). The reason that I wasn’t better at bars to begin with was that I
wasn’t able to practice on my own. To this day, bars are not my best event.

My first competition was very nerve wracking. I did pretty well for my first meet. I was
first in both floor and vault, and I finished fifth in the all-around. If it hadn’t been for bars, I
would have finished even higher. It was really fun, but at the same time, very nerve racking.

Gymnastics has taught me so much. It has taught me how to be more independent and to
stand up more for myself. It has taught me that even if someone did way better than me on
something, it does not mean that I have to cry and get all sad. As my coach always says that
makes me laugh, “You better suck those tears back in and stop crying.” I love my coaches
because they give the best advice. The time in the beginning of doing gymnastics is really

important to me because that was the beginning of possibly being one of the best gymnasts in the
country. Who knows! And I have came so far from when I first started. Gymnastics, overall, has
already impacted my life in so many good ways. It has made me stronger, both mentally and
physically. By working on my strength and when I do my tumbling passes, that builds up my
strength a lot. Mentally, because I am more independent and more open to speak to people when
it’s needed. Gymnastics is my passion. I absolutely love it! Even though I can be very hard on
myself, I will continue to power through and be the best I can be!

Mason Lee
“The Best Summer Ever”

“Uhh,” I moaned, as I pulled out my tray table. I had been flying for three hours.
“One hour until our connecting flight.”
One hour later, my mom, my dad, my sister, and I landed in Houston. TX. We ate lunch,
which was the most delicious, unhealthy thing I have ever eaten- Chick-Fil-A chicken fingers.
After an hour, we boarded the plane to Mexico. This time, the flight was only two hours, but
what were two hours felt like four! Finally, we arrived. We had to take a one hour ride to the
hotel. I was so tired when we finally got to San Miguel, Mexico.
I thought we just had a hotel room, but we had a condo! We had a living room, kitchen,
bathroom, and a rooftop balcony. I went to explore my room and found out that I had a TV! I
was so excited until I turned it on.
“Oh,” I said, “the TV was in Spanish!”
I was so annoyed. After I got used to the hotel, my dad took me to his friend's dinner
party.
My dad's friend’s name was Sunny. He was getting married to a woman named Gerda.
There were going to be multiple parties: a dinner party, lunch, Indian ceremony, traditional
ceremony, and another lunch party. When we arrived at the dinner party, I noticed that I was the
only kid there. I got an Indian tattoo and got squirted by many adults with squirt guns. I eat this
delicious corn with cheese. Sunny and Gerda said hi and told me that I’ve grown up so much.
After we left, we got ready to go to bed. That night I slept very well.

The next morning I woke up and we ordered room service. I ordered a gluten-free bagel
and salmon (I was still gluten-free at that time). I enjoyed it and then brushed my teeth. We had
to go to our second party at that time. This time it was a lunch party. My mom got this Indian
tattoo that was supposed to last a really long time. They had a bunch of snacks that of course I
loved. They also had cookies. We hung out there for quite a long time. I saw Sunny again and he
said hi. I met some of my dad’s other friends.

Later, we went back to our condo. I lounged around until dinner. For dinner, we ordered
room service, AGAIN! I got guacamole and chips. I then went up to my room to watch some
Spanish cartoons. I went to bed, and once again fell asleep well.

“Brrrrrrrrrr,” I woke up to the sound of my dad making coffee. That day was very special.
It was the day of the Indian ceremony of the wedding. Like usual, I started off my day with room
service. I got salmon again. We did not have to start getting ready for the ceremony until the
afternoon. I started to look at my iTouch, but had to help my mom with Moxie, my younger
sister. Finally, Moxie went to nap, so then I relaxed. At lunchtime, we ordered room service.
After lunch it was time to attend the ceremony. I got into my Indian clothes, which we got before
we came to Mexico. They were comfortable, loose and thin clothes with a pattern going across
them.

We were going to go to a parade first. They had these giant balloons. I got one. You were
supposed to bounce the balloons on the floor. It was very satisfying. We started walking around
the city. There were many people carrying coolers. I wondered what was in them. It turned out
that inside the coolers were popsicles and frozen drinks. I tried a frozen lemonade. It was the
most refreshing thing I had ever had. I also tried what I thought was a strawberry popsicle.​ Eww,

this is nasty. ​It was watermelon with seeds! I wanted to say something, but I didn’t want to be
rude. Meanwhile, I sipped on my lemonade to get what I thought was a nasty taste out of my
mouth.

The parade ended and we got ready to go to the actual ceremony. I thought that the
ceremony would be located at a normal building, but I was totally wrong. It looked like a palace!
It was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen! There were trees and candles inside! We sat
down on a couch and waited for the ceremony to start. When it started, I moved closer to Sunny.
It was great. They said a couple of prayers and then the coupled kissed. Sadly, we had to leave
because Moxie got tired. I went up to Sunny and Gerda to congratulate them We got back and
then I lied in my bed. I fell asleep at 12:00 that morning. I actually went to bed at 10:00pm, but
for some reason, I couldn’t fall asleep. I was worried that I would not get enough sleep.

When I woke up, I felt fine, but after a couple of hours, I realized I was right about not
getting enough sleep. I had the worst headache of my life! Luckily, my headache went away later
in the day. This was good because I had to go to the “formal” wedding later that afternoon.

When the time came, I got into my black suit and went to the hotel courtyard where the
wedding was taking place. After the kiss, the party started. We went to this huge tent for the
reception. Sadly, I had to leave after a little bit because it got too late. I went back to our condo
to greet my babysitter. She was really nice. I went to bed shortly after I ate dinner.

The next day was our second-to-last day in Mexico. There was a lunch party. They had
the BEST DESSERTS EVER! We went back to our condo and relaxed for the rest of the day.

“We are going home,” I said, as I woke up the next morning. I ate breakfast with my
family and then packed so we could leave. We checked out of the hotel and waited for a car. It
was a long car ride to the airport. After we got to the airport, we waited for our plane to board.

Finally, after what felt like a week, we boarded the plane. I immediately ordered a snack
box. On the second plane, I lucked out. There were free movies because the wifi wasn’t working.

When we got home, I was so happy. I couldn’t wait to go to bed in my own bed.
From my experience, I learned that it is good to try something new. This is important to
me because it was my first time in Mexico and I always wanted to go to Mexico. I have grown
mentally because I am now not afraid to talk to people I do not know. I think this memory will
always remind me that it is good to get out a see how other people live.

David Lefkovits
“While I Was Living in London”

Swoosh!​ The plane took off! When my family and I arrived in London, England, we
loved it! My family and I moved there for my dad’s work. We were going to live there for three
to four years. I was very tired because there was a time difference in London, which is six hours
ahead of New York.​ W​ e arrived at our house at one o’clock. When we arrived at our house, I
wanted to see my new room. I liked to explore new places.​ T​ he room looked like a giant square,
and it had a couple of windows. It had two beds and two closets. The room was very nice. After
that, I fell asleep because of the time change.

I left to go to London in the beginning of the summer. During the summer, I played
sports in the park and unpacked all of my things. I also got ready to go to a new school. When
summer of 2014 was over, I did not want to go to a new school. I liked my friends and school in
New York City. After the first week of school, I started to miss my other friends a lot more, even
though I made a lot of friends in London. Then I started to think about the good things in
London. For example, I lived in a house in a city instead of an apartment. My house was on a
quiet street.

One time when my grandparents on dad’s side came over, it was very late and when my
grandma walked up the stairs to my house, she fell backwards onto the sidewalk! I was asleep
and I heard about this the next morning. She went to the hospital and then they realized that she
broke a bone in her face. Once she felt well enough to travel, she went back to New York City to
see her doctor.

One year later, my other grandparents on my mom’s side came to visit. Luckily, there
were no accidents this time. We had a fun time with them. We went to cool places such as the
London Eye, Big Ben, Hyde Park, and Buckingham Palace. At the London Eye, we could see
most of London when we were at the top. Big Ben was very tall. We played sports in Hyde Park
such as baseball and tennis. When we went to Buckingham Palace, the queen wasn’t there, but it
was still fun seeing it.

One of the best things about living in London was that I had no homework! During my
free time I played sports in Hyde Park, such as basketball, baseball, tennis and soccer. Even
though I went to an American school, most of the people were from Great Britain. I still keep in
touch with my friends from London. Because I had no homework from school, I read a lot. At
this time, I was almost six years old and in Kindergarten. I remember I had a big math project. It
was very hard because I was so young. It was on division. Even though I had no homework,
school was still hard.

One ordinary day, my mom left to go to New York City.
She said, “Your grandma is sick.”
The next morning my dad woke us up for school and said, “We are going to New York
City.”
When we got there, my mom said my grandma passed away. When this happened, I was
very shocked. My brother and I did not know she was going to pass away. I was very sad.
One week later, my family and I went back to London. That week at school, I was not
very focused and I wanted to skip school everyday that week because I missed my grandma a lot.

Three years later, my family and I moved back to Greenwich Connecticut. Now I am in fifth
grade. I take tennis lessons, play on a baseball team, basketball team, and I sometimes play
soccer. When I come home each day, I like to play basketball with my brother. We are a very
athletic family.​

This memory is so important because it was unexpected. Even though it was very sad,
there is a lot to learn from this experience. One thing that I learned from this experience was that
spending time with family is very important. I also learned that things can happen unexpectedly.
My grandma taught me many important lessons. This has impacted my life because we were
very close. We would do almost everything together. I have grown since this happened by
thinking about what I did to help her and what I did for her.

Miles Leighton
“The Day My Dad Passed Away”

Everyone broke out crying. It was November 30, 2015, and it started out like any normal
day of life for me in second grade. The day carried out as typically planned; I had all my regular
classes and all the regular homework assigned for each class.

When school was over and I got home, my aunts and uncles were in my living room. I
was confused as to why they were in my house. Then my mom called my sisters and me over to
talk. We were informed about the passing of my dad. Then everyone, including my sisters and I,
broke out crying.

As a result of my father’s passing, my sisters and I stayed home from school for a week.
After the passing of a family member, within my faith, there’s a week of mourning. During this
week, my family and I went to a therapist to help us with the pain of losing a family member.
When we were at the therapist, we were talking about what happened. The room that the
therapist meetings were in was full of stress release toys to make you feel better, and the walls
were all different colors. The only colors I remember were blue, pink, and yellow.​ S​ ince these
initial visits, we have gone to see the therapist approximately once a month to check in on how
the coping process has been going for us.

The week long mourning service was hard, and I barely got any privacy. My house was
full of people each day, around the clock. The Rabbi, the Cantor, friends and family were all in
my house throughout the week. The Rabbi is the one who reads from the Torah and the Cantor is
the person who sings a lot of the prayers. Riyaan and James, friends in my grade, came to visit
me at my house to pay their respects to my family and me.

During this mourning period, all of the mirrors in the house were covered up because
you’re not supposed to think about yourself, but rather reflect on the person who has passed; that
way all of our thoughts would be on my father. Also during this time, you're not allowed to leave
the body alone, so our friends rotated around a cycle to stay with his body.

Three days after he passed away, we had the funeral at my synagogue Bet Torah, close to
where we live. We all gathered in the synagogue to say our final goodbyes. Usually the coffin
would have the Israeli or American flag on it, but his had the Canadian flag on it because my dad
was born in Canada and came to America as a teenager to go to college at Harvard and Yale.

After we said our final goodbyes, we headed over to the Jewish cemetery called Sharon
Gardens in Valhalla, New York. It had one small tree right next to the burial spot. The tree had a
little brown dirty teddy bear on one of the tree branches, most likely from a visitor who brought
it when visiting someone else’s grave. We didn’t know whose it was, so we left it there.​ W​ hen
we got to my father’s place, there was a canopy over the burial plot. When they lowered his
coffin in, everyone had to put two shovels worth of dirt to cover it. When I was putting my dirt
in, I almost fell in. A piece of the coffin had fallen off, and my sister, Hannah found it on the
ground and grabbed it to remember him by. She said we could split it in three, so we each can
have a piece. To this day, I’m still waiting for my piece! It’s been three years, come on! I kind of
got over it, but I would still like my share (hint hint).

When I was back at school, I was welcomed by my teachers with a warm smile. The first
week I was back at school, I constantly had to leave the classroom to calm down and take a
break. After the first week back, I was just fine, but my teachers still said I didn’t have to do the

homework. I guess that was a good thing for me! Every day when I got home, the Rabbi was at
my house and they were still praying every night in my living room facing Jerusalem in Israel.

Everyone still came to my house every day for a while. My little cousin didn’t even know
what happened to my dad. Months later when I went to Florida, my little cousin asked where my
dad was. We didn’t tell her the exact truth; we told her he was on a business trip. She asked when
he would be back and when she would see him again, so we had to tell her the truth at that point.
I went into the other room, and a few short minutes later I heard loud tears coming from the
kitchen. I almost started to cry as well, but I went outside and tried to keep my chill. That didn’t
work, so I went back inside to put on my swimsuit and I ran out and jumped into the pool to cool
down.

When we got back to New York, we had the service to reveal the gravestone. It was a sad
time. There wasn’t that many people there, so it was just the Rabbi and the Canter and my
cousins and my family. The revealing of the gravestone was nice. There was a little crying from
me and my family, but mostly from me.

This memory was important to share because I lost my father which now made me the only
boy in the family. This put a lot of pressure on me. I learned from this experience that I’m
stronger than I look. I’ve grown through this experience emotionally because now it takes a lot
more sad things, than it did before, to make me cry. This impacts my life moving forward
because I only had a father figure for seven years of my life, but will keep his memory alive
moving forward for the rest of mine.

William Linnett
“Nothing Like It”

As I see the beautiful water from twelve thousand feet high that looked like glass, I had
no expression. I knew this moment was going to be unforgettable. “That’s Bora Bora,” I said,
with excitement running through my veins. I was in Bora Bora- the best, prettiest place in the
world. I started to count the seconds before we landed. Then I heard the wheels on the plane
skidding across the land, and it was the best sound I ever heard.

As soon as the plane landed, I raced to be the first one out of the plane. As soon as my
family came off the plane, we were greeted by these aboriginals who gave us these beautiful
flower necklaces. They showed us the way to a boat that would drive us to our hotel. When we
were on the boat, I thought we were riding on sand because the water was so clear. As we started
to stop, I saw bungalows on the water that were supported by poles. But first, we had to sign in
to the hotel, so we went onto land.

After we signed in, we walked on a wooden bridge to the bungalows. When we opened
the door to number 386 of the bungalows, we saw glass doors into a sunset. Even parts of the
floor were glass. Then we went outside to the outside area. I noticed there was a diving board at
the end, so I ran to my bag and dug through my clothes to find my bathing suit. I jumped and
jumped and jumped in until it was too dark to see the water. I felt like I was jumping into
heaven! Then I laid down in my comfy bed processing what I saw, what I did, and what I
experienced. It took me hours to fall asleep that night.

Day one: we decide to go tubing. As I got onto the boat that would drive us to the tubing
area, I was too excited for words; I was speechless. As the kind woman gave us life jackets, I

couldn’t put it on any faster. My brother and I were racing to see who could be the first into the
water. It was me. Then we got onto the tube and we were battling nature. As my brother and my
muscles started to give up, we wouldn’t stop being determined to stay on. Then my mom jumped
on with excitement.

“AHH, get me off please, please!” shouted my mom. My brother and I couldn’t take it
anymore; we were so embarrassed, so we just showed a thumbs up to the lady meaning the sign
to go faster.

After, it was time to go wakeboarding. It wasn’t our first time, but the woman went
faster than I have ever gone before, so occasionally we would fall into the refreshing water. After
that, it was time to go back to the hotel. We couldn’t stop talking with excitement. Then I went to
bed with a grin on my face.

Day two: I woke up to a conversation going on with my family, deciding what activity
we should do today.

“I think we should go deep sea fishing,” said my brother.
“I think we should go too,” I said.
“What about tennis?” asked my dad.
“We can do that later. Can we please go deep sea fishing!” I exclaimed.
“Alright, alright, we can go deep sea fishing,” said my dad.
“YES! YES! YES!” I couldn’t wait.
“Wait, will they kill the fish?” I ask.
“No, we release them back into ocean,” my dad said.
“Ok.”

So then it was settled- we were going to go deep sea fishing later that day. In the
morning, we decided to rent snorkeling gear to snorkel with fish before we go fishing. There
were so many different types of fish that I thought I was dreaming. It was like an underwater
rainbow that never stopped shining. After we had lunch, then we went to a dock where a huge
boat stood in front of us. A man walked out to greet us from the boat and asked if we needed sea
sick tablets.

I said, “Why not!”
So I took it and before I could get it into my mouth, I dropped it and it fell through a
crack in the dock.
I said, “I didn’t need it anyway,” so we got onto the boat. When we went to the vast deep
sea, we were greeted by ten foot waves. I felt myself getting sick and what followed was worse!
A huge wave came! Not only was I sick, but it turned out that we didn’t catch anything with the
four hours that we were on the boat, which was ok because the fish deserved a break. When we
arrived back on land, we went to our bungalow.
Later we went to a seafood restaurant at the edge of the water. There were so many
options that I had no idea what I was going to get. When I made my decision, my family was
greeted by this huge seafood platter. Then it was time to go to bed, and I went to bed the same
way I did the last time, with a grin on my face.
Day three: I woke up early the next morning to find ourselves having another
conversation on what we should do that day. We came to the conclusion that we should go deep
sea diving with sharks. My mom told us that she wasn’t going to get in the water beforehand,
but that there were some sights where there would be tropical fish and she would get in the water

at those places. We walked down to the dock and got to the boat. The guide said our first stop
was swimming with black tip reef sharks and stingrays. I raced to be the first one in. As I went to
the front of the boat, I got scared. Then I just felt a huge push and fell right on one string ray. I
started to swim as fast as I could away from it. Then I saw my brother and my dad in the clear
glass water. I started to relax. I saw the iconic animal life surrounding me, and I felt like I was
part of an underwater family. I wasn’t scared of the sharka because they were only four feet tall.
Then I noticed someone was screaming above the water. It was my mother! She decided to come
into the water. She was overwhelmed with stress because she thought the sharks were circling.
Sadly, I heard the guide say that it was time to go to the next spot which was tropical fish. As
slowly as possible, I got back on the boat.

After that, we had a boat ride to the tropical fish area. I couldn’t wait to see all the
beautiful fish. As we started to slow down, the little blurs turned into hundreds and hundreds and
hundreds of fish. I jumped as fast as possible to see all the iconic fish. There was so much
diversity; some fish were small, some were big, some were blue, and some were not. It was
amazing to see the variation. There even was an eel! I took out my Gopro to film what looked
like millions of fish. Then as the fish started to swim away, it relieved a reef that was formed to
say “I love Bora Bora”. I told my dad that I needed a picture of me next to the writing. I
wouldn’t give up until I got a picture, so I tried and tried until I got one. Then I looked around
again and saw the guides taking pictures of the eel, so I gave them my Gopro and just observed
to see what would happen. I was very interested. Then I saw the eel emerge from its home and it
bit the camera! I was amazed; I couldn’t wait to rewatch it on camera. Then I heard the same

terrible sound saying it was time to go to the next spot. I was trying to act fatigued by slowly
pulling my body up the boat ladder.

I knew it was time to go to the next spot- the nine foot lemon sharks. On the way to the
third and final spot, exhilaration ran through my whole body. I have always had a phobia of
sharks and still do to this day. I have no idea why I jumped in. This led me to my next part of the
story, getting in. At first ,when the boat stopped and I saw the guides throw in smaller fish so that
the untamed 9 foot lemon sharks would rise up, I was thinking they must be crazy. Then I saw
my brother David just jump straight in, the first one in! I was confronted with a hard choice-
either stay on the boat with my mom, or go with the boys which included my dad and brother.
After a couple of minutes, I decided to take the second option, so I jumped in, scared out of my
mind of the sharks that were less than one foot away. I caught up to my father. I didn’t have too
much time to be in a happy mood, for there I saw the lemon shark that someone tempted to come
to the surface. This was the point where I had enough, so I went straight back to the ladder.
Luckily the guide said it was time to come back on the boat. I had so much emotion, and such
exhilaration. This was an unforgettable experience, but the fun wasn’t over yet.

After everyone was back on the boat, we went to a dock where there was a grill and a
table right on the water! Sadly, we had to go back because we only paid for the half day, but we
got to ride on a jet ski back. I started to learn a pattern with Bora Bora. Wake up, have one of the
best days of your life, and then go to sleep with a grin on your face. And that is what I did
everyday.

Day four: There was no conversation and no waking up late. We decided to go straight to
the dock to jet ski. I have never jet skied before and still haven’t. They didn’t allow me to jet ski

because I wasn’t old enough, but as soon as my dad took off, I knew that it was going to be a
wild ride. The guides recommended for him to take it slow at first, but after two minutes they
were going in the high sixties!!! Then we got to another island off the cost of Bora Bora, which
presented with more clear glass water; it was like the brother island. We lied in the water eating a
coconut and then the same annoying sound that was killing me this whole trip was saying it was
time to go back. On the way back, my dad was going crazy fast! Another jet skier made a huge
wave and made our boat jump accidently. It was like we were in space! There was no gravity.
My legs started floating up, and then came the worst part...the crash landing! It wasn’t too bad,
and as we got back to the dock, I just noticed what could possibly be the worst moment of my
life. We were leaving that night.

After one more amazing dinner on the water, it was time to go. I noticed that night that if
you work hard and are determined, you can do anything. I will never forget Bora Bora until the
day I die. As we walked onto the boat, there was no feeling of excitement, no clear glass water.
Just a silent boat ride to the airport. And then we left as simple as that, but it didn’t feel simple, it
was challenging to leave. And that was the end of it, but not the end of my journey, or the end of
the effect of what Bora Bora had on me!

Mariam Markarian

“Meeting Pope Francis”

​ Wow!​ I am so grateful to have been blessed by Pope Francis. This amazing life experience
happened on June 25, 2016 in Gyumri, Armenia. Before Pope Francis blessed us, there was a
Holy Mass. On the way to the Holy Mass, the people were cleaning the streets. I asked my mom
why they were cleaning the streets and what was the event? She told me that Pope Francis was
coming and we were going to His Mass. I did not know who Pope Francis was, so I asked my
mom who He was. My mom said that He was the head of the Catholic church and he had came
all the way from Italy to Armenia.

At the Holy Mass, there were about 1000 to 2000 people, which is a lot! Also, during the
Holy Mass, the children of the orphanage were singing. I was at the Holy Mass with my mom
and my grandma.

After the Holy Mass, we were very hot and exhausted because during the Mass the sun
was shining at us. Then we went to buy Pope Francis some slippers with my mom’s friend
because Sister Arousiag told us to. Sister Arousiag told us to buy slippers because the slippers
that we bought were brown and cozy and it would be an honor to present him with a gift.

We got to meet Pope Francis because my mom and I helped an orphanage by giving
them toys, food, clothes, and other goods. We have helped this orphanage in Armenia for 5-7
years. By doing this, the head of the orphanage, Sister Arousiag, let us meet Pope Francis.

Before we went to the orphanage, we stayed at a hotel right next to it. My mom and I
were getting ready. My mom was putting her make-up on and her clothes and shoes. While I was

putting my dress on, my grandma was doing my hair. Once we were about to leave the hotel, my
grandma said goodbye to my mom and me.

Before I got blessed by Pope Francis, we had to wait for almost one hour in front of the
orphanage, and we had a big lunch which lasted for about the hour. When we were eating lunch,
we met some people who have helped the orphanage for many years. My mom asked them why
they were here and they said that Sister Arousiag had invited them, too.

Once we were finished with our lunch, we had to go outside of the orphanage and wait. I
kept on asking my mom when He was going to come. Once He came out, He blessed the first
three people than me.

When I was just about to get blessed by Him, I had to kiss his ring and say, “Bless me
Holy Father.” Once we met him, there were three other people with us. Sister Arousiag told us
that there would be five people in total, so it wasn’t a surprise that there would be three more
people with us. After we got blessed by Pope Francis, the children in the orphanage sang to Him
in their white and red robes. While the children were singing, they sounded like angels.

This is a very special life experience because I got blessed by Pope Francis and not a lot
of children can say that they have been blessed by Him. This memory was very special to me
because not a lot of children get to meet Pope Francis. The main thing that I learned from this
experience was that doing good things for people will give you a good result most of the time.
This memory has impacted me for the future because if some people are talking about Pope
Francis, then I can join in and say, “I met Pope Francis when I was seven, and it was the best
experience of my life!” Also, this experience has made me a more faithful person to GOD and a
better Christian.

James Marra
“My Best Trip Ever!”

One day in the beginning of the summer of 2017, when not many other schools were out
yet, my brothers, Ben, who was 15 years old, and Thomas, who was 17 years old, and I all
agreed that we wanted to do something.

“Maybe we can go to the zoo!” I said.
“How about we go swimming somewhere really cool!” Ben exclaimed.
We all thought that was a really good idea.
Ben asked our parents, “Can Thomas, James, and I go on a roadtrip to the Catskills? We
found a really cool place to swim called the Blue Hole! Thomas can drive!” Ben said excitedly.
“Would you like us to come with you?” our parents asked us.
“No thanks,” Ben replied.
We showed our mom some pictures of the place online and she finally said that we could
go, as long as we stay safe. The place that we were going to swim at was called the Blue Hole
because the water is really blue all the time, and it’s also really deep.
We were really excited and we didn’t want to wait any longer, so we got some towels
and water bottles and then took off. First, we went to the deli and got breakfast sandwiches for
breakfast and then started to drive to the Catskills. We blasted music the whole way there, and
since we were having so much fun on the way there, we knew how much fun it was going to be
when we got there and would be able to swim!
We finally got there after a pretty long drive, but it didn't feel that long because when
you're having fun listening to music and talking about weird stuff, time flies. I was honestly kind

of upset that the car ride was over because we were having so much fun, but then I realized why
were even driving in the first place and that made me feel a lot better.

When we got there, we just wanted to swim. We got our towels and water bottles and
started to look for where we were going to swim. It took us about fifteen minutes to find the Blue
Hole and while we were walking, we saw a fish that looked like a bear definitely caught and ate
some of it. We were pretty freaked out by that, but we just kept walking. We eventually found it
after searching through the woods for a little while. Ben and I jumped in the water immediately.
The water was really cold but it felt really good because it was so hot out. Thomas was hesitant
to jump into the water. We tried to push him into the water, but he wouldn’t budge. We finally
convinced him to jump in. We swam together for a really long time and we had so much fun
together. We played lots of games in the water, including tag in the water, throw James, and also
kill James, (which was not so fun for me), until we got really tired. We also jumped off of this
humongous rock into the water.

Finally, at about two o’clock, after swimming for about five to six hours, we were all
really hungry, so we decided to get out of the cool blue water and dry off for a little. Then we
put our stuff in the car and looked for someplace to eat. After about ten minutes of driving
around, we found a little cafe. We parked our car and got some food .

We were all starving, so we ate a lot of food. I had delicious pancakes that made my
mouth just about water. Ben had golden waffles, and Thomas had huge chocolate chip pancakes
that smelled delicious. Even while we were eating, we found a way to have fun together. We
talked a lot while we were eating our food. If you haven’t noticed yet, we love to talk. We then

paid the check and went to the front desk where there were some sweets, and we bought some
and started to drive home.

We had so much fun together, so we were a little upset that we finally had to go home.
On the drive home, we did the same thing we did on the way there - blasted our music, but this
time we also talked to each other about how fun our trip was, our favorite parts of the trip, and
more things about the fun trip we went on. Then we thought of something; maybe because we
had so much fun, we could make it a yearly trip once we were all out of school for the summer!

When we got home from our drive, we told our parents everything that happened. They
seemed pretty impressed that we actually all got home alive and without any injuries.

“You guys actually lived, good job!” my parents exclaimed.
“Thanks,” I say, sarcastically.
Then we told her how we were thinking about maybe making a trip like this a yearly
thing. She said that since we proved that we can keep ourselves safe, that she'll think about
letting us go again this way. We were all pretty happy about that answer because there's not
enough.
A year later during the summer, my brothers and I all wanted to go on the same trip. Our
only problem was getting our oldest brother, Thomas out of bed. He loves to sleep in, especially
during the summer, so it was really hard to try and get him to come with us because first, he’s the
only one out of us who can drive, but mostly because we wanted to have him there with u, too.
Unfortunately, we were not able to get him to come with us, so that meant that we could not go
on the trip. We may be able to go on the trip next summer, though. Maybe someday we can go
again.

On this trip, I learned that my brothers are very nice, and whenever I’m with them I have
a lot of fun. I really hope that I will be able to go there again. From that day, I learned that I am
very lucky that I have the brothers that I have, and that I can always have a lot of fun with them
no matter what the situation is. This trip was very important to me because it helped my brothers
and I to all bond with each other, after spending an entire day together.



PJ McCaffery

“The First Injury”

I was walking out of the crowded lodge, all dressed and ready for (what I thought would
be) an amazing day full of a super fun skiing trip with a bunch of super fun skiing slopes. Okay,
so I was in first grade and it was during winter break, so I was spending some time in New
Jersey, out in the freezing cold. I could feel my fingers freezing and my tongue drying in the cold
air of New Jersey. There was a smell of hot chocolate coming from the lodge, and the sound of a
crowd of people jabbering about who knows what.

I was outside waiting on a bench for my family to finish getting ready because I was
already ready. I was so tired that I decided to sleep on the bench. I started to relax, despite the
rough wood, but right as soon as I started to drift off into the wonderful land of sleep… B​ LAM!​
The bench fell on my hand; it had so much force already and my extra weight doubled the
amount of pain that I had to endure. I guess it wasn’t too stable and it just fell down because I
made it more unstable. It hurt so badly that no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t lift it because
my muscles weren’t working because of the pain. Right when I was about to give up, a second
set of hands helped me get away from the bench. My first thought was that it was my mom or
dad, but the person wasn’t worrying enough so it must have been a kind soul who just wanted to
help me.

The stranger said, “I really do hate those benches.”
I was crying, but I was relieved that he had saved me, so I said the first and most obvious
thing I could say, “Thank you.”

“No problem. Now, where is your family?”
I didn’t really look at him for too long so I didn’t see what he looked like. At first, I
thought “stranger danger,” but there was just something that told me that I should trust him.
So I told him, “They’re inside.”
He walked me inside until I told him I saw my family. I thanked him one more time
before I ran to my family. When they saw me crying, they asked what had happened. After I told
them what happened, they told me to take off my glove. I stopped crying, but once I took it off, I
started to cry some more. It was just that bad. It was black and blue and about twice as large as
my other pinky. My dad asked me if I wanted to ski and I said I would. It didn’t seem to be to
bad at the time, so I didn’t see the doctor… yet.
While I was skiing, my finger started to hurt. It hurt for a while before I got the chance to
tell my dad. I told him after w had finished the slope, so we could get back down to the lodge.
After my mom heard about it at the lodge she said:
“PJ, please take off your glove with the hurt pinky.”
I took off my glove and it was black and blue. It looked and felt so bad I had to resist the
urge to cry, and I couldn’t move it without it hurting a lot. We went back to the house and I
didn’t ski for the rest of the trip. I got to stay home with my mom who was recovering from
tearing her ACL a few years before. I was really upset because I was really looking forward to
the trip and I really loved skiing. I had two weeks to ski but I only got in one week and three
days before winter break was done.
When I got back to my house in New York, I went to the doctor’s office and once I
finished telling him what had happened he told me:

“I’m going to take your x-ray.”
I was excited about this because I thought that it would be cool to get my x-ray taken, but
I was a little nervous because it was my first time ever using an x-ray, so naturally I asked:
“Will it hurt?”
“No, I’m just going to have you tell me which one hurts so I can put this around it and it
will take some pictures of the bone. That way I can tell you what’s wrong with it. So which one
hurts?” he replied.
“It’s this one,” I said, pointing to my pinky.
He put a little metal contraption on my finger that kind of looked like a little metal 3D
oval with a hole in the center for my finger around my pinky. He asked if it hurt. It didn’t, but the
pressure felt good on my hand, so he pressed a little red button a few times. When we went over
to his computer, he studied the pictures. Once he was done studying them, he told me that it was
fractured and that I would have to wear a cast for a month or two, so he gave me the cast that I
would where for the next two months.
Ever since then, I never trusted a bench enough to lie down on it and was always alert
when on a bench so it wouldn’t ever happen ever again. This was important because it taught me
to always be alert no matter the situation, even if there is almost no possible way of me getting
hurt; stay alert just in case.
This also made me grow in the way of being stronger because it taught me to be resilient
(which is good because now I’m a goalie, so I need to be resilient to stop the lacrosse balls with
my body and keep standing even on the spots without the protection of my goalie padding.)

This impacts my life going forward because it was my first ever injury, so I can’t brag
about never having gotten an injury before. It also helps me set a goal to never get another injury
again!

Sydney Morris
“Living in London”

I looked out the plane window at the endless-looking fields of grass and then out the
other window at the airport. Then the engine started to rumble and the captain said a few words
over the speaker. They showed a safety video about what to do if the plane would ever crash in
the middle of the ocean. Then the plane started to move and it went faster and faster until it lifted
off the ground.

I was done with New York for a while. I remembered the night before I was with my
parents, my sister Layla, Auntie Debra, Uncle Dan, and my cousins Lily Claire, Jack, and Ben.
We were all at a restaurant called The Modern Barn. Everyone was asking if I was nervous or
excited, and I had missed my cousins, aunt, and uncle even though I had just seen them.

After a long overnight plane ride with food and movies, we arrived at the airport in
London. We got the rest of our bags, got in the car, and went to our house.

When we got there, I just stared at the six story house in front of me. I ran up the stairs
and waited impatiently at the front door. Then I watched as my parents turned to go through a
small gate that led to the downstairs door, and I quickly sped passed them and waited again
impatiently at the door. My mom pushed the key into the hole, twisted it, and pushed the door
open.

I stepped inside and to my left there were some closets and to my right there was an open
space. In front of me down the room there was a door that led to a staircase and a laundry room,
and to the right of the door there was a step and a little kitchen area with two spiraly heaters. I
ran to the doorway and rushed up the stairs.

When I got to the top of the stairs, I saw the front door straight ahead of me. I turned to
my left and saw a doorway to an empty room connected to another empty room with a wooden
floor. I ran around the room a few times until I got bored and then walked out. I walked down the
hall and ran up the stairs to a little rest floor in the middle of the staircase with nothing on it. I
ran up the next set of stairs.

I panted heavily, for I had just run up a set of stairs, ran around a room more than twice,
and then ran up two more sets of stairs. Then I walked down the hall to a large room that looked
like it would be a master bedroom. I looked around and then walked into a really big bathroom
with a giant bathtub and a shower. I looked at it and then moved on to the next floor.

On the next level of the house there were three small rooms about the same size and
another bathroom. The top floor had a rather large room with skylights and a tiny bathroom. I ran
back down the stairs and told my parents about each floor.

Then I picked my room since I had already seen all of the rooms. I knew which floor our
rooms were on, the second to top floor, and the floor with three small rooms about the same size
and a bathroom. I chose the slightly bigger room, my sister chose the one next to mine, and the
other one was turned into my dad's office.

The next month I was starting school. It was called Southbank International Elementary
School, and I was starting in Pre-K. My teacher’s name was Ms. Hares, and I met two girls and
their names were Sarah and Nisa.

A couple weeks after school started, we went to see the London Eye. It looked like a big
bicycle. We took the tube which is a train or subway and we went to the town Southbank; we got
off the train and walked across the street to a boardwalk area near the river. We walked along the

river and I could see Big Ben and I thought about our house on Holy Hill Road right up the street
from Little Ben. As we continued walking, I saw a carousel with beautiful horses and dragons. I
begged my mom to go on it but she told me we were already going on the London Eye and we
didn’t need to go on two rides, so we kept walking to the Eye. When we got there, we got in line
for tickets and the next thing I knew I was boarding the Eye. The capsule rose higher and higher.
I had a better look of Big Ben thren, and it was beautiful the way the light was hitting it! It
looked like it was made of gold. The capsule started lowering down and we got ready for the
picture. When we got off the Eye, we walked back toward the tube and went home.

About two years later, we left London and came back to New York. This memory is
significant because I spent two years in a different country and traveled a lot while there. This
will impact my life moving forward because I made new friends and traveled more because of it.

Jake Nadol
“T​ he Peru Trip”

I looked up from my Kindle to see a white haired man sliding a cart down the aisle
“Do you want a drink?”
“Sure. Can I have a Sprite?” I said as I watched him slide out the drawer that contained
the drinks. I was with my two brothers, Joey and Sam and my mom, and we were on an airplane
heading straight towards Peru, and we were almost there. I was really excited about the trip and I
had been looking forward to it for a while.
A few hours later, we touched down at the airport and rolled our suitcases over to a driver
waiting for us. We went to a part of Peru called Arequipa and drove over to a hotel. It was
located directly in front of a lush plaza perfect for playing hide and seek. We went to bed and
woke up the next morning sometime around 7:00 am.
When we woke up, we weren’t sure where breakfast was, but we, after not that long,
found a set of stairs that led to a rooftop breakfast. I could have spent an entire day staring down
at the beautiful view of the park below. We ate a really good breakfast with bacon and eggs and
pancakes, and started our walk to the place which we were going to hang out at for the day. We
were going on a chocolate tour.
Most chocolates, (about 90%) aren’t real, because they don’t have cocoa, but this
chocolate place used cocoa, and I wasn’t sure how I’d like it. We walked upstairs to a room with
a long table. Our guide walked out of a door behind the table and told us to take a seat. He
showed us how real chocolate was made. We even did a taste test to see if we could tell whether
the chocolate we were given was real or fake. It was pretty easy to tell what was real and what

was fake because the real chocolate was really sweet. We saw what cocoapods looked like.
Cocoapods are the pods that hold cocoa beans. When you split a cocoapod apart at first, there is
milky white gunk covering everything, but if you dry if for a few hours, you will see little brown
beans, cocoa beans. You have to dry cocoa beans for a few months, and then grind them into tiny
little bits. You also have to have cocoa butter, which is pretty much cocoa bean extract, which is
buttery and smells sweet. We also learned that cocoa beans are a superfood, and that they’re the
second healthiest food in the world; the first is quinoa.

After this, we got to my favorite part. There is a special balance between sugar and cocoa
that you need to achieve in order to create a good chocolate bar. The chocolate that they made
there showed how much sugar was put in. 35% was the most amount of sugar that they put in. I,
having a sweet tooth, did 30% for my batch of chocolates. There were toppings as well, like
coconut and cocoa, and I put a little bit of everything on. After we had made our personalized
chocolate, we went back to the hotel and went to bed.

When we woke up the next morning, we wasted no time scurrying up the stairs to the
roof to have breakfast. When we were finished, we went down to the park and ran around,
chasing pigeons and playing hide and seek tag. We then walked into town to a monastery that
was old and still had crumbling walls and grand courtyards. There was one room that we walked
into that was part of the original monastery. There were other rooms like this, but this one was
especially cool to me because it was a dark room illuminated by three piercing rays of sunlight
that cut through the damp cool darkness, highlighting its brightness even more. There were also
trees that stood out in the beautiful gardens they resided.

We walked up to another old monastery, but it wasn’t as interesting as the first one,

so we went back to the park next to our hotel for an hour or two until we left at about 5:00 pm
for our dinner. The dinner was actually a make-it-yourself dinner, which I was excited about
because I like cooking. It was a cool evening, and we waited in the courtyard next to where we
were going to make dinner. With us was an elderly couple and a man in his twenties.

After ten minutes of waiting, the cook came out of a building next to the courtyard. She
asked us to come over to where we would cook, a pavillion-type house with a roof but only three
walls. We went inside, and there were aprons there that we put on. We first learned how to make
causa, a dish of potatoes somewhat popular in Peru that was essentially mashed potatoes with
toppings on it. We made that, and then moved on to my personal favorite, lomo saltado. Lomo
saltado is an iconic Peruvian dish with sliced steak simmered in red wine, onions, tomatoes, and
cilantro topped with rice and optionally a sauce. The whole dinner was awesome, and we walked
back to the hotel, well satisfied with the dinner we had made ourselves.

The next morning we ate breakfast, packed up, and met the driver who would bring us
and a few other people to Colca Canyon, the next leg of our trip. That was great news. The bad
news? The van that carried us would take five hours, with only one bathroom break, as well as
the fact that my Kindle was out of battery, so I couldn’t even read. On the trip, we stopped twice.
The first stop was about two hours into the drive. We were driving along a barren weedy plain,
with the occasional herd of gazelle-like animals trudging through the plain, when we reached a
dusty village with a convenience store. We got some snacks there, and ate said snacks while
watching the villages’ herd of llamas in a big pasture. There were some people there, and we
talked to them a little, and then hopped back into the van and continued along for an hour, when
the driver stopped the van. I wasn’t quite sure why we were stopping, as there were no

convenience stores, gas stations, or bathrooms in sight. The driver then explained that we were at
Peru’s highest altitude point and that we might as well go outside and get some air. (This
statement doesn’t make much sense in hindsight, seeing as the air was pretty thin up there.)

We climbed out, and the first thing we noticed was the cairns, rounded stones seemingly
defying gravity as they stood precariously on one another. There were hundreds of them there,
standing solemnly in the gray mist hanging in the dark clouds. The second thing I noticed was
the air. It was thin at 14,200 feet, more than two miles. We made a few cairns of our own,
climbed back into the bus, and continued upon our now two hour journey,

We stopped for lunch at a restaurant overlooking some scenic plains. Lunch was good, as
I ordered lomo saltado. When we were done with lunch, we went back into the van for the home
stretch of the drive. When we arrived at the Colca Canyon we were all relieved to get out of the
van that had imprisoned us for five hours.

When I heard that we were going to the Colca Canyon, I imagined a dusty gash cut into
the Earth with a raging river flowing through it. If you haven’t already guessed, being the typical
American, I had envisioned the Grand Canyon. The Colca Canyon was nothing like that. If I had
to give one word to describe it, I would say “green.” It was a valley with ledges running through
it here and there, with grass running through it all, dotted with the occasional tree. The resort was
a bunch of large huts consisting of two beds only, but we had brought two air mattresses, which
we immediately started inflating. When that was done, I went outside to explore. There were
about thirty huts there, and a few stone bridges where some natural streams flowed through.
Then, I discovered, there was a path that led down the valley to a river with a beachy area with
some fossils in the sand and some palm trees to provide shade. I headed back to the hut and then

all of us walked over to the main house for dinner, (lomo saltado again which over the trip I
never got sick of,) then walked back to the hut for some rest.

We woke up late next morning, and walked over to the main house for a breakfast buffet
and when we were done, started a walk for one, maybe two miles. We passed plains with tall
grass and weeds alike, and some cows and llamas. I went a bit ahead, so I was the first one there.
There were old stone walls with barely recognizable houses. I found a few old chips of pottery
but left them there. The biggest house there was the town hall, which was some twelve by twenty
feet, impressive for an ancient building. We decided to take a different route down, which led
right over a potato farm. We went back to the lodge, ate, played a few games, and got some
well-deserved rest.

The next morning we woke bright and early, packed up, snatched a few savory morsels
from the buffet, and got over to the van that would take us from the rolling hills of Colca back to
Arequipa. The trip back took more time because we had a lot of stops, but eventually, the ride
came to an end.

Next, we went to a town with a busy, crowded market. We didn’t buy anything, but we
saw a herd of llamas that were adorned by colorful garments. By the time we got back to
Arequipa, it was dinnertime and we had dinner at the same hotel as last time. We woke up next
morning, and as usual, had breakfast on the roof. Then we went over to a llama ranch, (yes, that
really is a thing.) The ranch was surrounded by trees, and I was surrounded by… llamas. What
we were to do is help out by bringing the llamas uphill to where they can graze. The hike, from
what I thought, was pretty scenic. Three fourths of the way up, we saw a rainbow. When we got
all the way to the top, we watched the llamas graze as we ate lunch, sandwiches. We proceeded

to hike back down the mountain. When we had hiked down, we put on helmets, and went
whitewater rafting. The rafting was really cool because there were huge mountains surrounding
us wherever we looked. We then took a taxi over to this really huge salt mine that was about a
square mile. The salt mine had all of these rectangular holes full of salt that were drying out in
the sun. We then drove over to a depression in the middle of a plain that was terraced and was
considered an archaeological site. The terraces were actually potato farms used hundreds of years
ago. Then we traveled to the Sacred Valley-a location where many ancient cities were. It was
important, hence the name the “Sacred Valley.” The bus that we were on was jam-packed with
tourists. We were on the bus to Machu Picchu, the most iconic lost city in Peru.

The ancient stone walls, crumbled and cracked, welcomed me to Machu Picchu. There
were stone buildings everywhere. It looked like something out of a fairy tale, with mist rising up
the mountain, obscuring the ground below. Tourists and llamas mingled alike. I ran around the
ruins. There were so many things. A house here. A farm there. There was even a huge stone that
acted as a slide that was ten feet tall. It was all amazing! I kept thinking about it on the way back.
When we got back we got some sleep, and woke up the next morning energized.

In the afternoon, we went onto a bus and drove until we reached an open road. Only then
did I notice that there were bikes on the roof of the bus. We unloaded them, gave the people on
the bus our stuff, and they drove ahead to where we, on our bikes would meet them. The biking
wasn’t too hard, and we met up with them in about an hour. The rendezvous point was set up
next to a lake; it was a tent as big and as white as a wedding tent. We ate a barbecue lunch there,
and the van arrived with all of our belongings. We then flew over to a Marriott hotel and slept
there. The next morning we packed up and got on a boat and went down the Amazon River to

our final resort, and my personal favorite part of the entire trip. The place that we were staying
was a small cabin with a hammock in front of it. That day we went on a small hike in the tropical
forest. There were exotic trees, animals, you name it. Beams of sunlight fell openly through the
canopy of leaves that the trees formed.

The next day we woke up and were excited. We were going to do a treetops adventure
course. In a treetops adventure course, you can go ziplining and do all sorts of obstacles in the
treetops, as the name suggests. When we were done with that, Joey, and Sam, and I went on a
scavenger hunt with our guide while mom hiked.

The next day, we hiked in the forest with our guide, Javier. We hiked until we reached a
clearing with a really big nut and a machete. We were to slice open the shell to get to the good
parts of the nut. I was the one who sliced it open, and even though this sounds kind of
psychopathic, it was really satisfying. We then went on a boat to see the red howler monkeys.
We did see them, climbing around in trees. They swung around from branch to branch, but they
didn’t howl.

Finally, it was time for our night tour. At about 10:00 pm we walked out of our tents to
do this tour. When we had all grouped up and were walking, we saw a tarantula in a tree, but our
tour guide advised us to keep our distance as tarantulas can jump three feet in a single bound. As
we were walking over a bridge, our guide picked up a rock and threw it into the water below.
Immediately, a V-shaped head snapped out of the water. It was a crocodile (caiman) Lastly, as
we were walking along, we saw a poison dart frog. Some poison dart frogs have enough poison
to kill ten grown men. When our hike was done, we went back to our tent and packed up, as we
would be leaving tomorrow morning. We then went to sleep and woke up next morning. We took

our bags, checked out our room, sailed back up the Amazon, got a taxi to the airport, and
departed Peru to go back home.

This trip still remains a very important memory to me because we had so much fun and
tried so many new things. I would have never expected it to be as fun as it really was, and it
changed me as a person to try new things more often.

Ben Nadorf

“Journey Across Asia”

Sitting down, probably a million feet in the air, I looked out of the window. The clouds
looked like white cotton candy. The sun was about to set.

“Where are we going?” I asked my parents.
“It’s a secret!” my parents kept telling me.
First, let’s go back to the morning of this day. We were driving on our way to the John F.
Kennedy airport to ride a plane. We got there, checked in, and waited in the airport for an hour.
The plane ride was EIGHTEEN hours! That’s almost a day! I watched a movie, took a
quick nap, and woke up for dinner. On the plane, the flight attendants served lamb with potatoes,
and it was surprisingly good compared to all the other airplane food on other airlines. After
eating dinner, I watched a movie and went to sleep. I skipped breakfast because I slept so long. I
woke up to a loud sound. ​Screech!​ The plane’s wheels were touching the landing runway. From
the plane window, I noticed that we were on an island.
“Are we in Hawaii?” I asked.
My parents said, “No, we are far from Hawaii. We are somewhere in Asia.”
The island for the airport seemed really small, which seemed odd, because there were a
ton of people at the airport. There was a small city in the distance surrounded by a really clear
and teal colored sea. I did not know any islands in Asia except for the Philippines and Indonesia.
“Are we in Indonesia? The Philippines?”
“No, but you are close.”
I walked off the plane, but this time, I had to walk on the runway, which was odd to me.
The weather was really hot and I was really thirsty. I bought a smoothie from the airport shop

and some chips. My parents told me that we needed to take a boat to our resort. I looked around
and understood why. My family and I walked for ten minutes on the island of the airport until
my dad stopped near a boat dock. There was a man holding a sign with our last name on it. He
said that we had to take a boat to the island of our resort, which I already knew.

“Are we in Sri Lanka?”
“No, we are near Sri Lanka, though.”
The boat ride was thirty minutes. The loud noise of the motor echoed in the sea and our
boat caused a ripple in the water. T​ his boat is loud!​ I​ thought. In the ocean, I saw a group of
dolphins that were swimming very quickly. Twenty-five minutes passed and I saw an island in
the distance. There was a beach on the shores of the island, a ton of palm trees, and a turquoise
body of water around it, much like the island I saw from when the plane was landing. The man
who worked at the resort parked the boat at the dock. We walked on the sand and I saw a sign
that said the resort my family was staying at. The waves were rolling on the sand and the palm
trees were blowing in the wind. There were a few bikes on the island that the guests could use.
I realized I was hungry because I did not eat the breakfast on the plane. The resort we
were at had a restaurant that had steak, eggs, and every type of food I could think of.
The smell was mouthwatering and I was even hungrier than before. I ate like a horse!
After lunch, my brother and I raced to our room. There was a platform that our rooms
connected to. When I walked in, the room looked bigger than it had looked like on the outside.
The ceilings were vaulted and there was a door that slid open and led to the balcony. On the
balcony, there was a ladder that led into the ocean. I swam in the ocean almost every day when
we were in the Maldives.

On the second day, my family decided to go fishing. It was a different kind of fishing
called fly fishing. The instructor said that you eat what you catch and I caught eight! Since we
wouldn’t eat eight fish, we threw some back into the sea so that they could stay alive. For dinner,
we had the fish that I caught, a bass. The fish was seasoned and it smelled delicious! It came
with vegetables and they tasted good, too. At night, you could see every star in the sky. I went
outside on the balcony with my legs in the water and watched the stars. Then I went inside and
slept.

The next morning, I woke up early. The sun had not even risen yet. I got my swimsuit
from the drawer and went back into the sea. I stayed in the sea for almost two hours and my
fingers were so wrinkled. I got out of the ocean, got dressed, and went to breakfast. Sadly, we
were leaving the Maldives.

We took the boat going back to the island of the airport and went to the check-in counter.
The woman at the counter told us that our flight was going to be seven hours. I was confused
since the flight that we took going to the Maldives was thirteen hours. I also noticed that the
counter had a different airline than the one that we took to get there.

“We are going to another place in Asia,” my parents announced.
I was starting to feel homesick, since this was the longest vacation I had ever been on.
“Where in Asia, exactly?” I asked.
“In the Middle East,” my parents replied.
The plane ride was much like the one going to the Maldives, except this one was shorter.
As we were landing, I saw a R​ EALLY​ tall building. The city we were in was very big and had
many skyscrapers and buildings. The tall building looked similar, like I have seen it before. The

building turned out to be the tallest building in the entire world, the Burj Khalifa. That had meant
that I was in Dubai, located in the United Arab Emirates. When we landed, we were greeted by
another man holding up our last name on a sign. This time, we took a car instead of a boat to our
hotel. Our hotel was on an artificial island with a bridge to the city. It was called the Burj Al
Arab. We got to the hotel and it was already dinner time. We went to a fancy restaurant and I had
some steak.

After staying in the Burj Al Arab for three days, we went to another city in the country,
Abu Dhabi. We stayed at a hotel called Emirates Palace. We went to a place called Ferrari
World, home of the fastest roller coaster in the world. I was an inch short so I couldn’t ride, but I
was lucky I didn’t ride because the ride had maintenance issues.

Later that day, my family and I went to the Arabian Desert.​ ​There was a Jeep that took us
to the desert. There were dunes in the desert, which made the experience more fun for me, but
not for my mother. Riding in the sand dunes felt like going on a roller coaster We drove into
Oman, the nearby country, for a few minutes. Technically, that meant that I traveled to three
countries in two weeks.

We ate dinner at the feast in the desert, and I got to ride a camel. Getting off of the camel
was really rough. First, the camel had to tilt forward and then move back, and I almost fell off! I
got a souvenir with sand that said my name. I still have that souvenir in my room today. We got
back to the hotel, and I was fast asleep since it was almost midnight.

The next morning, we had a late flight going back to New York. In the meantime, we
visited my cousin and went to the Dubai Mall, the second largest mall in the world! When it
came time to go back home, I wanted to stay longer. It was a thirteen hour flight back home and I