Top Runner Up

Be Your Best Self

Seventeen guys, four girls and six instructors left on the Western frontier for twenty days… “What goes on?” one might wonder? Well, twenty days packed with adventure, excitement and, most importantly, memories. My story begins under a starry sky in Utah, possibly the most spectacular night sky on the planet. It was pitch dark due to lack of light pollution, and two girls were falling asleep on top of a tarp beside the Colorado River. They were just falling under when one girl feels something crawl across her arm. She taps me, did I mention I was one of these girls? I turn on my headlamp and shine it on what looks like a cockroach. It was huge, at least the size of a mouse. We screamed and then realized the rest of the camp was sleeping. We jumped up and hopped in our sleeping bags to the opposite side of the tarp. This is called the caterpillar. We both started saying the name of one of our instructors first quietly, then a little louder until we were squealing “Pete! Pete! Pete!” Pete ran over to see what all the commotion was about. By this time the bug was crawling frantically across the sand. Pete let out a manly scream and grabbed the concrete block holding our tarp down. He threw it on top of the roach, but that roach was a fighter – it started hissing. That was one of the more frightening noises I have ever heard. Pete lifted up the block. Read more