I went to a school for elementary and middle that combined the two into one kind of super school. Spoilr alert: it wasn't as great s they thought it was. One cool thing about it was that from 4th to 8th grade they gave kids the opportunity to go on a class trip. And as you moved up, the trips got better. When I reached 5th grade the trip changed to something that they hadn't tried before but the administration and the guy who helped plan the trip were super excited about it, so their enthusiasm was contagious and my friends and I became excited about the trip as well. (and 5th graders aren't cynical yet)

The first day they split us up according to gender. The girls would go on a day long canoeing trip the first day and then spend time at the camp ground and then the guys would do the opposite. The day started off well canoeing down a lovely river with the sun shining on you, but as the day went on it quickly became dark and rainy. It wasn't a warm summer rain, it was a frigid fall rain and suddenly the bathing suit and shorts idea seemed like a terrible one, and the teacher who suggested it seemed sadistic. We were all shivering as we paddled. I hated mr. hill for making us canoe all day. i was convinced I would catch a cold because of these conditions. When we reached the camp ground finally it was like our own zion. Fires and no rain.




The day after the camp time all of us were loaded up into a bus and told to close our eyes. If i had been smart I wouldn't have followed these directions but I was a team player! When asked what we were doing mr. hill said we would be orienteering. No one knew what that was and when asked mr. hill grinned and simply said we would find out soon. For those that don't know its know in layman's terms as finding your way back home with just a compass and a 5 sec. talk on how to use a compass. We gave up within a few mins. using the compass. My poor father was our chaperon and had 4 5tth graders to look after and try and find a way back to the camp ground after being dumped who knows where in the woods. Luckily most of us had been to the general area before because of summer camp. But that really doesn't matter when you are dumped in the middle (maybe) of it's woods.Our group consisted of two of my friends and one girl who was an acquaintance of sorts. She was nice enough but very sheltered. So when we were out in the woods she thought she knew everything about everything and she loved to sing. I don't have a problem with people who love to sing except sometimes that translates into them singing all the time, which can get on my last nerve. She sang all through the orienteering trip which was all day. My father is a person who has very little patience and it amazes me to this day that he did not snap. Especially because at one point he decided he would go up to the top of a hill and try and see where we were. He told us to stay where we were and call him if there was an emergency he would literally be right back. So he set off to the top of the hill and he was just out of eyesight (because of the trees) when she started screaming for my father. My friends and I quickly tried to explain that he was just at the top of the hill looking to see where we were, and that he would be right back, he hadn't left us out here. But try as we might she kept yelling. My father comes barreling trough the trees as fast as he can, thinking something had happened and there was an emergency. He breathlessly asked what was wrong as she blinks up at him and said

"Oh, I just didn't know where you were." and began singing again. All of us starred at her, but my father's eyes narrowed and the left one twitched. But he didn't say anything.

We went home the next day vowing never to go orienteering again.