Erik Gray's Journals
#journalgems
Written November 2011
Schoolwork
Schoolwork
Erik
Gray
B3- US
Gov’t
Make Up
Work
Freedom Academy
Every year, two students from Cedar
High (usually the future Student Body President and Vice-President) are given
the chance to attend Freedom Academy. What is Freedom Academy? It is a week-long
camp that does a lot of activities that deal with freedom and with the army.
The theme for the week was “Freedom Isn’t Free.”
The camp started on Sunday
afternoon. We all met in the auditorium, and were split up into groups of about
eight students. A counselor was assigned to our group, and we started to get to
know each other. We all got along really well and became friends really fast.
Our group colors were blue and green, so we started calling ourselves the
“Bloogers” (BL for blue + GR for green= BLGR). That night we were introduced to
how life in the army really is. One of the head guys yelled at us to get in
formations, do drills, and we basically felt like a bunch of boot camp
recruits. After that first night, our group was basically like a family. We all
sat by each other during meals, talked a lot, and got to know each other really
well.
Throughout the week we did a bunch
of activities. We were at Camp Williams, a camp right at Point of the Mountain.
A lot of activities we did were on Camp Williams ground; we heard from a bunch
of speakers, shot guns, went rappelling, did a ropes course, drove big
tractors, shot more guns, climbed a rock wall, were part of a flag retirement
ceremony, and even did a shooting simulation (a lot like what you would see on
Halo of Call of Duty or something). We also had a swim/dance party, a talent
show, a speech contest, a concert from a male a Cappella group, “minute to win
it” games, and another dance at the end of the week.
We also did a lot of things off base;
we toured the state prison, had a SWAT team demonstration, toured a news
station, visited the State Capitol, visited the State Courthouse, and toured
the Air National Guard base.
The most fun activity was definitely
the dance: imagine about 100 or 150 outgoing student leaders at one place,
partying like crazy. That’s exactly what those dances were like.
My favorite activity was probably
the flag retirement ceremony. It was really amazing. I have never been to one
before. We listened to a recording of the whole story about the star spangled
banner. When we burned the old flags, I thought it was really sad. The emotions
were just so high in everyone that a lot of people were teary-eyed. That was
one time that I felt really blessed to live here in a free country.
Some of the things I learned at
Freedom Academy are this:
1. We are not here alone. The people
we meet can help strengthen us and our lives. Most of us from Freedom Academy
still keep in touch, through texting and Facebook, so we are able to talk about
life and even share ideas about school things.
2. America is a GREAT place.
3. As stated in the last paragraph, we
really are super blessed to live in the United States of America. We are free.
Freedom is what only few countries have.
4. Freedom isn’t free. People have
given so much for our country, and we owe them a lot of respect.
I’m really glad I got to attend
Freedom Academy, I wouldn’t trade the experiences I’ve had and what I’ve
learned for anything. It was truly an enlightening experience.
