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| Sophomore Emily Essig-Peppard |
Tents? Check. Sleeping pads? Check. Sleeping bags? Check. Jersey (Coach Kelly’s dog)? Check. Food, layers of clothes, and more food? Check, check, and check.
This past weekend the UNC Swim and Dive Team took a trip to Carter Lake for some team bonding out in the wilderness...well, I wouldn’t really call it “wilderness;” we went camping at a campground with "bathrooms" that would make you want to just use the wilderness instead (and be thankful for all those underwater sets).
Once we got there we went straight to work; getting all our tent mates together, putting up the tents quickly and easily(as we are all expert campers, of course), and unpacked the wide array of food from everyone. We then started our ‘oh so famous’ campfire (this is a very important part of our whole trip); after we finally got it raging, everyone settled down in a cozy circle around the fire to start the fun.
We started off our activities with every girl (and Kevin) reading aloud their list of favorite things, so to speak (which included drinks, foods, restaurants, hobbies, etc.); this way everyone knew that extra something about their teammates and coaches. We then ate our self-provided dinners, where almost everyone cooked over the fire or ate their “gourmet to go” meals from Holmes Dining Hall on campus (which meant each girl eating around eight hot dogs for dinner, and no way of ordering pizza). After we had finished stuffing our faces, we sat back down to follow up on our “Getting to Know You list.” Coach Kelly read off one sheet at a time and would call upon a girl (or Kevin) to see if we could remember the favorite thing of our teammates. Because we are so attentive to detail and payed very close attention, we were all able to guess the right person every time without much hesitation; as you can tell, we are great at this team bonding thing. Then it was time for each team member to share their life's greatest adversity, and accomplishment; while this may seem easy, trust us, it is not easy by any stretch of the imagination. This activity brings us mostly to tears, with the occasional laugh here or there, but the most important thing about this activity is that it brings us closer together. Once everyone has gone, it was time for us to hug it out and move on to the best part of the night, SMORES! We ended the night on a positive note and then headed to our very luxurious and comfortable tents for a good night’s sleep.
The next morning, we enjoyed our breakfast with the Women’s Basketball team from UNC; we shared laughs by throwing a mini concert full of lip singing and dancing, and even some funny talents we had (like the b-ball girl’s armpit farting). Not only were all of us watching, but some young kids from the next campsite over also enjoyed our treat and were dancing along to our songs playing so quietly (which really means blasting). After watching everyone's astounding talents, we said goodbye to our fellow athletes and gathered for one last meeting on the trip.
For the last time we sat down around the campfire to discuss our team goals. As a team we decide what we want to achieve throughout the season (from breaking records, to Team GPA, and to Life Skills). We also come up with steps on how we are going to achieve these goals as a team. After our “Team Goal Meeting,” we headed our separate ways to pack up the tents and clean up our campsite. Once we were finished, we ended the trip with a short hike to the top of a hill, to sit on top of the rocks and look down on Carter Lake. Here, we took time to reflect on the weekend and the gorgeous view in front of us. Now, we have come back to campus with a new outlook and are greatly looking forward to a great season with a team composed of new girls and returnees, ready to charge ahead and bring many wins to UNC Aquabears!
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