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Yearbook Camp

'Yearbook Camp? Are you crazy?' was the response I received from many of my friends and family when I told them of my weeklong adventure. It may sound ridiculous, but yearbook camp helped me get my feet wet in the mechanics of yearbook before school started full throttle and I was doomed. Don't get me wrong; it consisted of a mountain of work that seemed everlasting, but, all in all, it could have been a lot worse.

By the end of Gettysburg Yearbook Experience, I made several friends, learned important skills, and realized that times may get tough, but it will all pay off. When Ms. Eller, my teacher, Taylour Hopkins, the editor-in-chief, and I arrived at Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania to discover hundreds of eager students milling around, I had a panic attack.

I have never been what some call outgoing, and to realize that I would be surrounded by that many people overwhelmed me. I was so overwhelmed, in fact, that on the night after my first full day at camp, I had a mental breakdown. It may have been because many people had not surrounded me all summer long, or it may have been that there was seemingly too much work to complete in one week, but either way, it happened, and it was not pleasant.

After that first night, however, things got progressively easier. The workload was still the same, but I welcomed opinions, and they helped tremendously. The people that pushed me along quickly became my friends, and because we had common interests, I believe that we will be life-long friends.

It was from several of these newly made friends that I learned important skills. Taylour, the only other student from my school, taught me something that I know I will never be able to forget: how to dodge toddler puke. It was Wednesday, the night before we would go home, and the advisor decided to treat us to dinner at a nearby tavern.

We had not even sat down and ordered before a middle-aged man with a toddler on his hip came walking down the aisle and asked Taylour to scoot over so they could pass. As soon as she had moved, the toddler turned and threw-up on Taylour -- twice. Funnily enough, she did not even notice until I told her.

At her expense, everyone at my table learned that the best way to avoid toddler puke is to get out of range if one is visibly sick. Besides the sick toddler lesson, I attended at least four lectures and came out of them with modern ways to design, write, and photograph. Though, the most valuable lesson would be that of when you receive a packing list, take only what is on it, or you may find yourself with twice the amount of stuff that you actually need.

At times, it may feel like there is not enough time in the day to achieve everything you want to. Each and every day at camp felt like that. We were given so much work and barely any free time.

I was one of the lucky ones because I did not have to stay up till two or three in the morning working; I only had to be sleep deprived until midnight. Although I had more rest than others, it was still hard for me to process throughout the day. Information was thrown at me every time I turned around.

The magnitude of stress paid off, though, because we planned out the entire yearbook, completed several rough draft pages, and received an award for excellence in theme development. So, even though I complained about the fast paced schedule, I am glad that I went. Gettysburg Yearbook Experience showed me how to have fun while working hard. I may not have been keen on waking up at six each morning and going to bed after midnight, but it paid off in the end. And, after we had sorted through the piles of work on the mountain, we were finally able to reach the tip where fun could be sought. It was extremely easy to forget about all of the work. I cannot wait to return next summer and see what other adventures await me!