Personal reflection

  Personal narrative

The Boundary Waters is a beautiful, but dangerous place. My friends and I learned that the hard way last summer during our trip up north. During my trip in the Boundary Waters, I overcame my fear of hornets, proving that one can make significant progress when given the right situation.

We had a fun day planned on the water, finally having some free time for once. We had just arrived in the BWCA, and we’d spent the previous day canoeing and portaging nonstop. After a long rest, it was time for some action. The six of us set out on an adventure, hoping to discover a nice place to eat and swim. Eventually, we paddled past an island that looked like a fun spot. Paddling closer, we beached our canoes. Before we swam, we had to eat lunch, so we gathered around the firepit to grab a bite. “We don’t have too much time, it’s going to rain in 3 hours” noted my friend David. He was right, we eventually had to get back to our campsite.

Everything was going good, bellies full, my friends and I were about to swim. Just one more thing, we had to set up the water filter in order to refill our drinks. So david moseyed on down to the beach to set it up, just a little bag with a clip to attach it around a tree branch. *Click*, the filter was in place. None of us saw David set it up, but we for sure saw him when he was running back up yelling. “RUN!!” he yelled as he sprinted away from the menacing hornets chasing him. We all laughed, not knowing where the hornets were coming from. Then, we looked back at the filter and saw the hornets nest right next to it. Uh oh.

After shaming David for his shortsighted actions, it was time to come up with a plan. We all took off most of our clothes to create what we dubbed a “supersuit”. David was first to suit up, with two jackets tied around his legs to cover them, his hood tightly covering his face, and gloves. He rushed down to try to grab the filter, but got stung instead. Each person took a turn with the suit, without success. It finally came to me, and I was really scared. Hornets have always scared me throughout my life, even since I got stung at a young age. I hadn’t touched a hornet since. That was about to chance. I suited up, mentally and physically, I began the dreaded walk down towards the nest. The closer I walked towards the hornet nest, the more nervous I became. The hornets’ buzzing grew louder by the second, as if they could sense my fear. Maybe they could hear my heart pounding, the sound of my soggy boots crunching against the leaves, or perhaps they could see me approaching. Losing my composure, I step back to access my surroundings. The island is relatively small, surrounded by trees and rotting fish carcasses. The dead fish gave off a thick stench, which wasn’t a problem for the birds preying on them. The atmosphere was getting darker, as the clouds spread across the sky. The rest of my friends on the island worried about the incoming rain, and we only had a matter of time, no one wanted to paddle back to the campsite drenched. With the clock against us, I realized I had to focus on the objective, retrieve the water filter, and get back to camp. I took another step towards the tree, I could almost touch the filter. Reaching my fingers towards the clip, I grit my teeth. 3….2…..1.. Go! I grabbed onto the clip and squeezed. *Click* the filter dropped down, and I raced back to the site victoriously. I didn’t even care that the hornets were behind me, because I was overcome with joy. All my friends cheered and jumped up in the air, surely heard by anyone within 600 rods. Everyone was in shock that I, the biggest coward in the group, overcame my fear and saved the afternoon. We barely missed the rain on the way back to camp. The rest of the night was filled with laughter and stargazing.

When I traveled up to the Boundary Waters, I didn’t know what I was going for exactly. Possibly an escape from reality, a chance to live in nature, or just a fun outing with my friends. Truthfully, it ended up being a trip of self discovery. I had no idea I would enter the boundary waters as a boy, and exit as a boy who’s no longer scared of bees. Moral of the story is, no matter how much armor you put on your body, it’s the mental armor that matters most when getting the job done. When one is backed against the wall with no choice but to come to terms with what they’ve been running away from, significant growth is always the outcome.