Reflections from the BWCA Trail

During the month of June 2014, Project Success brought 179 students from each of the 9 middle schools we serve to spend seven days in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCA). Two of the trips were led by Project Success alumna, Brenna Baily, who shared some of her thoughts about the experience:

I came back to Project Success this summer to work as an intern doing a variety of jobs. First item on the to-do list: go to the Boundary Waters with kids from Project Success middle schools for a week-long trip.  This was such an ideal way to start the summer that I opted to go on two trips.  The first trip experience was unprecedented in terms of how…much….rain. Despite the rain continually pouring down, my group of cold, wet, slightly scared girls kept their spirits up.  I began to recognize a positive, energized mentality in some students that reflected the same mentality of Project Success.  It was on the second trip that I truly realized how contagious the Project Success spirit and enthusiasm is for these kids.  One story in particular stays with me and still makes me smile:

We were sitting by the fire, anxiously sitting on our thrones of fallen trees, waiting for our guide, Spencer, to finally dole out that beef stroganoff (I promise this stuff is five-star quality on trail).  The conversation looked like our campsite — colorful, happy, things thrown every which way.  So as I sat there, trying in my old age (ha) to keep up with this ever-evolving,  unruly, overflowing stream of conversation, one kid interrupted with a pretty nonchalant comment (to him) that meant all the world (to me).

He said, “ya know, this is the first group I’ve been with where nobody was a complete total jerk.”

The conversation quickly paused as this jolted the other kids out of their own imaginations. They all smiled at him, and beef stroganoff was served.

Personally, I had goose bumps that I can’t blame on the chilly Boundary Waters evening, and teary eyes that I can’t blame on the smoke of the fire — but for the kids, I think the moment quickly faded.  Maybe because the beef stroganoff was just that good.  More likely, they did not see the significance of that moment.  They were just kids being kids, and for that week in the Boundary Waters, kids being best friends. But I will remember it; because this was the moment I realized how Project Success transcends their mission.  They do not just inspire kids to “Dream, Plan, Succeed,” they inspire kids to be enthusiastic, kind, understanding, respectful — to be a community.

Click here to read more and see the photo gallery from our 2014 BWCA Adventures.