Slanted sunlight through stained glass windows. Nothing but the sound of rustling pages and people shifting in the pews waiting for the first chimes of the organ.
I sit in silent contemplation.
While some Shads used their Sunday morning for sleeping in, four of us made our way to a quaint French Catholic church for morning service. A break from the normal routine of Shad schedule, the quiet reflection was a great way to start my day.
The day quickly turned crazy, however. Upon returning, we grabbed all that was left of breakfast and attempted to pack all our camping gear in 3 minutes. We then joined the rest of the Shads in loading the van with sleeping bags and backpacks before heading out for lunch. The air was static with excitement as we piled into the schoolbus and Shads found ways to entertain themselves via boisterous never-ending songs (credit: James and Jay J) and incessant chatter.
We are a community. This fact became increasingly apparent as we arrived at the campsite. We were divided into committees, who were each in charge of various aspects of setting up the campsite: tents, fire, food and cleaning. I loved how all the Shads used each of their specific talents to contribute to the team, for after all, a whole is only the sum of its parts. Dinner was Indian curry and couscous, a refreshing take on the typical hotdog/hamburger camping staple. Each Shad cleaned up every last grain on their plate and if they couldn’t, passed it off to Brian, who gladly accepted people’s leftovers.
As the night slowly crept up on us, Shads gathered for a self-invented game of Tai-Chi. We were indeed Tai Chi CHI-efs eating CHI-(ee)se on their way to CHI-na :D Banana boats: bananas topped with graham cracker crumbs and chocolate chips were grilled to perfection and served for dessert. Then, as the stars appeared glittering one by one in the pitch black sky, and the faces of Shads became merely shadows in the murky darkness, we gathered around the campfire in a huddled semicircle. “Listen,” said Nick, “to the sounds around you.” – the evening breeze gently rustling the pine leaves, the distant roar of the flowing river, the crackling of the open fire and the regular breathing of Shads. And it was to these sounds that we spent the night opening up and sharing: sharing pieces of our lives, our deepest thoughts, emotions and all that made us people.
“Right now, you are only giving ¼ of 1/3 of ½ (all of us promptly concluded this to be 1/24) and you already amaze me. I am excited to know what will happen when you give me your best.” Daniel Dupuis, our Program Coordinator encouraged. I think this was the point that every Shad realized how much we were really capable of: no, we were destined for bigger, greater things.
Staring into the dancing flames of fiery orange and yellow and listening to the comforting sounds of nature and fellow Shads, I knew that this was happiness. We were here for each other, here to push each other to attain excellence, here to stretch each other to our maximum potential. And we wouldn’t let each other down.
Clasped hands and bowed heads. Specks of bright light in stretches of black. Blinking “star” traverses the horizon.
Silence.
Beautiful Silence.
Vivienne Tam, Shad Valley Université Laval 2010
Hometown: Waterloo, Ontario
