By Cooper Schwartz
17.95 seconds.
That’s been the record time for climbing to the top of the tower (about a 50-foot climb) since 2016, and when the summer began, I was certain that it would never be beaten. Sure, some people climbed fast, but not less-than-twenty-seconds fast.
And then one of my staff members decided he was going to be the one to break the record. We all kind of laughed him off at first, but he was committed to his goal. And then, one day, over the Adventure walkie-talkies, I hear someone say “Mitchell did it!” He’d climbed the tower in 17.79 seconds, breaking the five-year-old record. But he didn’t stop there. As I write this, his record to climb is 12.28 seconds, absolutely blowing the old record out of the water (or I suppose out of the air would be more accurate), and I wouldn’t be surprised if it drops at least another second by the time the summer is over.
In my years as a staff member, I’ve seen basically the same thing happen with campers. Not climbing the tower in almost the same amount of time it takes to say “Welcome Home,” but starting the summer certain that they won’t make any friends in their bunk, or that being away from home for so long isn’t something they can do, or any number of other foreseen challenges. Every year, without fail, I get to watch that camper become friends with everyone in their bunk (or even unit!), learn to enjoy being away from home, and overcoming every challenge that they thought they would have to face. It’s one of my favorite parts of being a staff member.
While those accomplishments don’t get written in Sharpie on the wall, I daresay that they leave an even more lasting mark on everyone involved—those campers will always remember the friends they made and the time they spent with them. And the fact that they had to overcome their own disbelief in order to have that time just makes it even more worth the while.
So when you’re trying to overcome any obstacle you’re facing, I suggest you prepare the same way any camper does before they climb the tower—check and make sure there’s someone there to support you, and then make sure you’re ready to go:
On belay? Belay on. Climbing?
Climb on.
Cooper Schwartz. is from from Elkins Park, PA, just north of Philadelphia. He recently graduated from Case Western Reserve University, in Cleveland, OH, with degrees in mechanical engineering and computer science. This will be his 9th summer at Camp Harlam and 5th on staff, and he is incredibly excited to be the Adventure Supervisor this year!