Zachary Grasl
Scriptor
Wylie E Groves HS
1st Place
Division 3, News Writing
Personal Narrative
Joshua walked out onto the pool deck with a towel around his body, almost like he was trying to hide something. Joshua and I had already made a pretty good relationship, and his counselor was already in the pool with his other camper. Joshua’s counselor asked me to hang out with Joshua for awhile.
“C’mon buddy. Just go for it,” I said.
Joshua removed his towel, and I saw them.
Black and red round marks covered his skin; they were no larger than pimples, but they were much worse: cigarette burns – all over his body.
I grabbed his hand. “Let’s jump in on three.”
For a moment, Joshua forgot the marks, and we jumped into the pool together.
There are thousands of kids in the United States foster care system who are forced to live the story of an orphan, the story of being taken away from their families: kids are relocated from home to home, no permanent family to call their own, and birthdays are forgotten. The kids grow up with the feeling of fear and hunger in their lives among many other damaging emotions: anger, abandonment, rejection, hunger, and loneliness. Forty to fifty percent of kids in foster care never graduate high school. When the kids turn eighteen, they are forced out of the foster care system with no one in their lives, and thousands of kids leave the foster care system with no home and support system. In 1985, Royal Family KIDS was created to help the children of abuse and neglect in the foster care system and make an impact on their lives, and as of 2014, Royal Family KIDS has helped six percent of the children in the United States foster care system. These kids feel like they are worth nothing to anyone and that no one loves them. Royal Family KIDS have given the kids at camp hope and love, which is something these kids desperately need in their lives.
The fourth day of camp we experienced an event that no one could prepared for. It was an event when our emotions got the best of us. This event was the tree planting ceremony, the most poignant event of my life. We all gathered around a big hole in the ground and took a seat in the chairs that were provided for us. Soft music played in the background, and the new campers wondered what was going on while the returning campers knew exactly what was going to happen. The camp psychologist, Dr. Lisa Haas-Bach, took a microphone from the camp director and told us that we were about to begin the tree planting ceremony. I’m not one to cry in public, and it’s actually really hard for me to cry. Even when I try to shed some tears, I can’t do it. But at the tree planting ceremony, I never cried so much in my life. Bach told the campers, the counselors, and the staff the story of David and Goliath, with soft music playing in the background.
When Bach finished telling the story of David and Goliath, she asked the directors pass out a sheet of paper and a pencil to all the campers, staff, and counselors. She asked us to write down the Goliath in our lives. The Goliath could be a molestation, a beating, sexual abuse, neglect, abandoned, or being forgotten by those who are supposed to love you. That was when the tears started to flow for me and many other people at the ceremony. When we were finished writing on the piece of paper, Bach told us to toss the pieces of paper into the hole where the tree will be planted. Once the tree is planted, whatever we wrote down we won’t have to be afraid of it anymore because we just defeated whatever we wrote down. What really made me feel really emotional was when Lucas, one of our first year campers, walked up to me and started to cry on my shoulder. He opened up to me and told me about his past. He told me that he had been used as a foot stool, and, like Joshua, people used him to put out their cigarettes. I told him that he doesn’t have to be afraid of that anymore, and that I was there for him. He looked at me and said
something to me that really hit me hard.
“I wish that you were my brother Mr. Zac!” Lucas said.
I didn’t know what to say. I just gave him a big hug and told him to go to his counselor. I needed a minute alone. I went to the room, sat down on the bed, and cried until I couldn’t cry
anymore.
I went to Royal Family KIDS to touch the hearts of these kids and make an impact on their lives, but at the same time, these kids touched my heart and made an impact on my life. The kids made me realize how lucky I truly am to have what I have in my life. Even though I fight with my family a lot, I’m thankful for them. Some of the kids show up to camp with a trash bag and shoes that don’t fit them. They have nothing. They have no family. Many have no hope, no sense of someone who will protect them. I have seen kids whose hair was pulled out of their head, and I have seen the burn marks on them. I have seen these kids leave camp with grins on their faces and holding the hands of volunteers. I wanted to make a difference in the world, and for the first time in my life, Royal Family KIDS Camp gave me that opportunity. I finally found what I was called to do with my life: to work with kids in the foster care system.
Before I experienced these powerful moments at the camp, I couldn’t wait to get back to my real life: playing football and hanging out with my friends. After a few days at camp, all of that changed. I wasn’t that selfish boy who went to Royal Family KIDS Camp to add something to my college applications. I left as a man, one who realized that life isn’t all about me, that innocents are physically and emotional abused every day, and that I can be someone who helps those children have what all children deserve: a childhood and one of joy, support, and protection..