This was a story I got from one of the camp staff members when I was working on a project to reflect back on the history of Camp Lyle. The scout talked about here was a scout from our Troop.
One of my favorite memories of Lyle was in 2012. I staffed at waterfront for the week my troop was up and decided to come back the next week and help again. I arrived Thursday during the middle of afternoon session. I checked in, put my stuff in staff city, tossed my suit on and headed down to waterfront. I arrived and saw a young scout with a few of his troop adult leaders around him trying to get him to swim. I sat next to him and just started talking. He told me his name was Green and he loved baseball but was afraid of the water. I asked if I could help him with his swimming and he said yes. About 5 minutes later he was in the non-swimmers area working on his swimming with me. Afternoon session ended and I asked if he wanted to come back and work on it again, he agreed. That Evening, we worked on it a little bit, making more progress than before. He wasn’t as hesitant to get into the water. As Evening session was coming to a close I asked if he would want to try his swimmers test and he said not today. I didn’t want to push him too much so I left it at that. That night we had vespers and as we walked down the chapel trail at each word they were given a rock for each point of the scout law. Green kept his in his pocket. Vespers went well and everyone went off to join their troop.
The next morning I saw him for morning session and I saw a change in him. He was more determined and he jumped in the water right away. He worked that entire session and didn’t complain at all. His paddling and kicking was stronger and he was working hard. I asked again if he wanted to take his test, and he said yes. I grabbed Liam to help with the swim test. Liam stayed on the dock as I got into the water. Green looked at Liam and I and then jumped in. He surfaced the water and started panicking. After we got him out, he sat on the edge of the dock looking like he was mad at himself. I got out, walked over to him, and sat next to him. He told me that he had to pass his swimmers test to go to Greece that year for school and that he had a bad experience when he was younger. That is what made him afraid of the water. He slowly stood up and walked to grab his towel. He walked back by me and asked if we could work on it again at afternoon session. I told him yes thinking that after his scare he probably won’t be back, but hoping that he would.
Afternoon session came around and he showed up! He walked calmly to the dock and jumped into the water. We worked that entire session but he didn’t try for his swimmers test again. About halfway thru the session he said he needed to go and finish some other merit badges. He got out of the water and dried off and put his shoes back on. He then walked back onto the dock and threw something into the water. He came back by me and said that was my rock for brave from last night, thank you for working with me and walked away. Later in the afternoon session, some of the adult leaders from his troop came down to swim and started talking to me. They kept thanking me for working with him and that he had a fun time down at the waterfront.
Needless to say he didn’t pass his swimmers test that year, but in 2013 his troop went the week before mine. Green walked down to waterfront and asked where I was. He was hesitant on doing his swimmers test but he did it and he passed! I heard about it when I went to Camp the week later and it made my week. It made me so proud of him and his determination to overcome his fear of the water. That is one of my memories of Lyle that I go back to frequently. Green is an inspiration to me not to give up even if something scares you and he is one of the many reasons why I have stayed in scouting.
Thank you,
Katie Schneider
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