My First Amazing Trip to IGC

MY FIRST AMAZING TRIP TO IGC

I am sitting on a gray, leather seat in my friend’s dad’s car. My friend Adrienne is resting and talking to her mom on the phone. I am thinking about all the fun I had, but I am also remembering my nervousness and some problems I faced. By the way, all this fun happened at International Gymnastics Camp, IGC, where my gymnastics adventures started.
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Finally, the moment I waited for all summer had come. Well, not exactly, but that meant more time to look forward to it. My dad was driving our silvery gold SUV to Pennsylvania. Why? We were headed toward International Gymnastics Camp (IGC). The butterflies in my tummy were because of excitement, but also nervousness. I thought camp would be awesome, but I was going to get there later than everyone else. The check-in went from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm. It was already 3:30, and my dad and I were still lost. We were around the area, but could not find it. The address was not on Google Maps, Yahoo Maps, or the GPS, so my dad had to follow the instructions on the IGC website. My dad finally called to ask the people in the Camp Office where to go.
We eventually got there at 4:00. The parking lot was totally empty. Nothing was set up anymore to welcome me. We waited in the car for the counselor.
My dad asked, “Are you excited?”
I answered, “Yeah! I’m really excited!”
I added, “I’m kind of nervous too. I’m not sure why.”
He said, “Oh, don’t worry about it. I’m sure everybody’s nervous the first time they come to a new camp!”
Just then, I spotted a counselor wearing the IGC shirt and sweatpants walking up the hill toward the SUV.
The counselor walked us to my cabin. On the way, she pointed out important parts of the camp. We went to the camp office to sign in and put money into my canteen account. My dad put in 50 dollars. I wondered how much other people got. Did they also get 50? Or did they get 100? Or even 200? Oh, well, there was nothing I could do to change it.
At the Canteen, campers could buy water bottles, soft drinks, Gatorade, leotards, T-shirts, candy, funnel cake, popcorn, slushies, pizza, and other things. Also, there was a place that was kind of like a fast food restaurant/grill, except the food was better there, but did not have many choices. They served fries, and burgers, but not much else.
After my dad, the counselor, and I left the camp office, my dad had to head home. He waved good-bye and I waved back. Soon, he was out of sight.
The counselor led me down a steep hill to my cabin, cabin 6.
On the way, she asked me, “Did you bring bedding and sheeting or did you only bring clothes?”
I nervously answered, “Only clothes.” She explained that the camp would provide sheets for me.
My parents had requested that Adrienne, my friend, be in the same cabin. Sure enough, we were both in cabin six. I was happy to see her familiar knee brace on one of the beds. I got into my leotard, and the counselor led me to the Olympic gym. The gym was sort of like an auditorium. All the other gymnasts were sitting, talking and screening. There were seats that were against the wall during practice, but were pulled out for other activities. The counselor brought me to a coach and he screened me. Most people had to do the skills that they knew how to do, but since I got there late, I just had to tell him what I could do. I was glad, because I imagined the other gymnasts were doing some really hard moves, and I hadn’t even warmed up yet.
The coach introduced me to Tess, one of my counselors. She walked me over to the rest of my cabin mates.
She said, “Hi! I’m Tess. And who are you?”
I answered, “I’m Angie.”
She questioned, “Angie? Did I say it right?”
I replied, “Yep.”
She said, “Okay, now I don’t know where Adrienne went, but let’s take a look.” We scanned the crowd and she said, “I see some of the people from your cabin, but Adrienne’s not there. She might be screening. Why don’t you sit with them, until Adrienne comes back?
I replied, “Sure.”
Tess asked the kids from my cabin if they knew where Adrienne was, but they replied no. She introduced me to the other kids and them to me.
After a few minutes, Adrienne came back, and I felt a bit relieved, because she was the only one I knew well. The butterflies were still in my stomach, though. We started talking, and I relaxed a bit, but soon I felt anxious again. I didn’t know where everything was, if I was going to make friends, if I was going to be good at gymnastics compared to the other people in my cabin, and I just really felt plain nervousness. It was like the first day at a new school, except I knew I would end up having a good time in the end. Also, I had forgotten my sleeping bag. Everybody else had their own sheets and bedding or a sleeping bag!
Next, we did pit fluffing. Once again, I felt less nervous, because I knew what we were doing. We would fluff the pit! The pit is a place where you can practice moves you haven’t mastered on the floor. It provides a soft landing. We were going to throw all the pit blocks out, and then put them back in. That way the pit would be even more even.
They took the people with dust allergies into the bar gym. I was thankful that I don’t have allergies! In the bar gym, people did conditioning, which meant push-ups, v-ups and other exercises to strengthen your muscles. Many gymnasts did not like conditioning, including me, so I was glad to fluff the pit instead.
There were five gyms: the bar gym, the beam gym, the vault gym, the Olympic gym, and the dance gym. The bar gym and Olympic gym were connected, so it was easy to get from one gym to the other. The beam gym and vault gym were also connected.
Adrienne and I got in the pit together. We started throwing the foam blocks out of the pit. Once most of them were on the gym floor, the gym coach called for all the gymnasts to come out. We climbed up to ground level, which was now covered with foam blocks. One of the gym coaches pulled Adrienne, then me out. I felt like I was climbing up a rock wall without the actual rocks or like climbing out of the deep end of a backyard swimming pool. My foot bumped into a part of the bar. Ouch!
I mostly forgot about being nervous, until we went back to the cabin and everyone had already set up their sheets and put their clothes in the drawers, except for me. Anyway, I was supposed to get dressed and ready for dinner. I tried to go with the flow, but the jitters were back.
Soon, everyone was ready, so we went to dinner. I had plain pasta, which looked pretty good, because I usually like plain pasta. I don’t like food all mixed up together. It was pretty good, but I thought it would be better. I was expecting something more like a real restaurant buffet.
I mostly talked with Adrienne at dinner, but I also talked to Hannah and some other girls I did not know.
After that, we went back to the cabin, and went out to social hour. One of the coaches got up and enthusiastically explained the games that we were going to play.
Ninja was a game of fast reaction. About 10 people played at a time. First, you bowed with your hands held sort of like you were praying. Then, you made a Kung Fu pose, and said, “Shotgun!” Whoever did that first got to start the round. Next, the first person would make an offense move to try to get another person. The person that is being aimed at can make a defense move. The person that was aimed at can make an offense move to a different person, and so on. When one person got tapped on their hand, they would put it behind their back, and would not be allowed to use that hand again. When both hands are behind a person’s back they are out and have to sit down. The last one standing is the winner. Our winner shouted, “Yeah, I won!” while the others pledged to win the next game.
Telephone was the game where one person would whisper something into their neighbor’s ear and it would keep on going around to the last person, who would say it out loud. Usually it would sound very different. We passed around, “You are weird,” and it ended up, “I am scared.” I was thankful to not be feeling as scared as I had been!
The get-to-know-each-other game was a little meaningless. The speaker would say something like, “If you play another sport, then go to the middle.” Then any person that played another sport would go to the middle, and shake hands with another person, say what their name was, go back to their spot and sit down.
After that, my cabin mates and I went back to the cabin, took showers, and got ready for bed. My sheeting was on my bed, folded up neatly. Now, I felt much better. I made some friends, my sheeting was here, and I had finally gotten over the first-day-of-school feeling. I got the pillow and sheets ready, and sat on my bed. There were drawers to keep your clothes in, but I kept mine in my suitcase. I did not feel like taking out all my clothes, and putting them in drawers. Besides, if I left them in my bag, then I would not have to put all of my clothes back in the luggage at the end of camp.
I played Uno with Hannah, who seemed pretty nice. She won the first two games, but then I won the next couple. Soon, it was time for bed. Hannah was pretty rushed. She seemed to be saying in her head hurry up… hurry up. She even said it aloud, sometimes.
We got ten minutes of flashlight time, but I did not have a flashlight. Oops, I forgot. Oh well; some other people forgot their flashlight, too. I lay in bed replaying the day’s events in my head until flashlight time was over. I heard whispering and saw circles of light. I wondered if people would start talking or whispering like at sleepovers, but since they didn’t, I closed my eyes. I was getting pretty tired anyway.
I could not fall asleep no matter what I did. I tossed and turned. I started to wonder if other people were awake too, but there was no way to know for sure… Maybe I fell asleep, but then I found myself awake in my bed again, wondering what to do. I could not fall back asleep, so I waited and waited for the announcement that we were supposed to get up, and go to breakfast. It felt like 3 hours, but I knew it would have only been one hour at most, because when I woke up, the sun was shining through the window in the door already and the announcements would go on at 7:00 am. I felt very energetic and awake already, like I could do a front handspring right then and there.
A voice with an accent I didn’t recognize came on the speakers and said, “Campers, wake up! Wake up everybody! Okay cabins one, two, three, four, and five go to the cafeteria. Cabins six, seven, eight, and nine you’re on deck.”
Everybody in the cabin got up groggily, except me. I had slept a lot the night before I came, so I felt energized, and up-and-ready-to-go, as a marathon runner would feel after more than 10 hours of sleep. I hopped right out of bed. I walked to Adrienne’s bed and whispered, “Get up!” She got up slowly, so I walked back over and sat on my bed. I waited for everyone to get up, but before they all did, a voice on the speaker said, “Cabins six, seven, eight, and nine go to the cafeteria. Cabins ten, eleven, twelve, and thirteen you’re on deck.”
We went down to the cafeteria without brushing our teeth, or changing our clothes. Everyone wore PJs to breakfast.
The air was pretty cold outside, but I wore a pair of long pants from my winter pajamas and a tank top from my summer pajamas, so I was not that cold. Some people tossed on a sweatshirt so I did, too. There was no wind, but I felt cold, as if there were a huge breeze, instead of none. I could almost see my breath in the air around me like in winter, except it was not that foggy, just a bit misty.
Our cabin was right on the steep hill, so we had to walk up about a half of it. It wasn’t too tiring; it gave you a bit of a workout, though.
There was a stage on the grass at the top of the hill. There were steps like the auditorium bleachers. I could picture someone cartwheeling across the stage as part of a show.
We walked up the steps, and there was the canteen. We headed up a smaller hill to the left of the canteen, and the cafeteria was there.
We walked up to the line, behind cabin five. We stood and waited. There were three separate lines, so people could walk through. Ashley, blonde hair and pretty, let me and Adrienne go up to the second line. When we got to the front of the line, Tess said, “Hey! Did you have fun yesterday?”
I replied, “Yes! I had a lot of fun fluffing the pit. Why weren’t you there?”
“I was in the vault gym fluffing the other pit!” she answered. Our conversation was interrupted when she noticed it was our turn to go ahead to the next line.
Soon we were at the table and eating. I had sausages (in strips kind of like hot dogs, except they were smaller), a waffle with syrup, and a biscuit. It was delicious. The sausages were just right: not too burnt, not raw. The waffle was sweet with the syrup. The biscuit was crunchy on the outside, but nice and soft on the inside, just the way I like them. That reminded me of how Adrienne, and my friends back home are. They are strong on the outside, but really nice on the inside.
“I can’t wait for Scary Aerie!” Katie exclaimed.
“What’s Scary Aerie?” I asked.
“You don’t know what Scary Aerie is?”
“Noooo….”
“It is the most fun part of IGC! They have this rock climbing wall which goes up really high, a tight rope and steps that lead to a zip line. The zip line is the coolest because it goes all the way across the lake! It is really long,” seeing the look on my face, she added, “don’t worry you’ll be in harnesses the whole time. It’s really fun once you try it!” I still felt a little scared.


After breakfast, we stopped at the canteen. I did not get anything, because I wanted to save my 50 dollars for a time when I might really want something, or for an end of camp souvenir. Once we got back to the cabin, I got into my leotard. I wore my white, black, brown, and blue leo. It was called Twister when I saw it in the magazine. The colors were all swirled and mixed. One of the straps was sparkly blue and brown. The sparkly strap was lower than the other side.
Once everyone was washed up and in their leotards, we went down to the vault gym. We had to get through the beam gym to get to the vault gym, because there was not a door that went directly to the vault gym from the outside, there was only one that went into it from the beam gym.
We went inside, and did the warm-up dances. I had no idea what we were doing, but I just did what everyone else did. Since it went with music, I could sort of move with the beat. Everyone was crowded together. Almost everybody was wearing a different, bold colored leotard.
Then, a coach called out all the groups; there were just about a hundred! They chose the groups you were in based on the screening from the day before.
I was placed in F5. My gymnastics was not as good as the other people in my group though, but that was okay, because I got a challenge.
Our first event was floor. We worked on basic skills, because it was basic Monday. We did front walk overs, back walk overs, back handsprings, and front handsprings.
Next, we had conditioning on the floor in the bar gym. Conditioning was just strength training, where we would do push-ups, V-ups, and other stuff to work our muscles.
After that, we had dance. We learned the warm up dance to the Beyoncé song. We had to clap our hands to the rhythm, first. Next, we ran in place with high knees. Then, we jumped up and down like we were jump roping. We did a lot of other random, weird moves. Gymnasts who really liked the dance signed up to participate in a dance mob. About half the class signed up; I didn’t! I sat with Mela and we mocked the dancers while they discussed the flash mob.
Then, we got a lunch break. Usually, we would have a food for a day like “Taco Tuesday.” Today we had mac and cheese. The mac and cheese was so good. The food at IGC is probably good on weekdays, but not on the weekends where everyone would check in or check out.
Soon, lunch was over and we went back to our cabin. We were one of the first cabins to get to lunch, so we got to play and rest a little. Usually, I would play Uno with Hannah, and Hailey. Hailey was not very nice. She was selfish. She did not let anyone sit on her bed, she did not share any of her things, and she acted spoiled.
I thought I could become friends with everybody, but Hailey made me change my mind. I did not want to become her friend. Jackie, Grace, Lindsay, Abbey, and all the other people in the cabin were not selfish, so I became their friends, just not Hailey’s.
Soon, it was back to gymnastics. I went to the vault gym, because my next event was vault. There were eight vaults. One of them was not used often though. Each day we had a different vault, and the same group would go on two vaults on one day.
On vault, I was ok, because I could do a front handspring and a half on, which everybody else was doing, too. We also did some drills. We used a springboard and blue box to go up into a handstand. We jumped off of the springboard with our hands on the box and kicked our legs up. I was good at that, because I used to do that with the vault so I could go all the way up easily. I felt comfortable.
Another drill we did was handstand pops. We would kick up into a handstand and push off the floor, and onto the mat. The mat was lower than the one I worked on at my gym, so again, I felt like I was fitting in.
The last drill we did was going up into a handstand off of a box. We used another blue box to do a seal stretch on, pushed our hands off and onto the floor and let our legs go up into a handstand. I had done that before. All of my queasiness was gone now that I was having so much fun.
After vault, we went to beam. On beam, we did some walks and kicks. We had the pit beams, so we also did some front tucks into the pit. We ran to the end of the beam with both feet landing and pushing off the beam, jumping, tucking in my knees like a ball and flipping forward, landing in the pit. Beam was especially fun, because we got the pit beams! My group shouted, “Yessss!” when we found out.
Last of all, we had bars. We worked our cast to handstands, free hip circles, kips and some drills to help us with bars. Everyone could do most of the skills pretty well. They also asked us to work flyaways and giants, which I didn’t know how to do yet. I started working at some of the stations. There was a station for each of the bar’s coaches. There was also a couple where you had to work yourself, mostly drills.
The days passed quickly and the meals got better. I really liked Taco Tuesday. We got to choose hard or soft shell, then beef or chicken then any cheese, lettuce or any other sides for the taco. Hailey was showing off a little, but we were all eating and talking together at least. The lasagna on another day was very yummy.
For recreation, I played with most of my cabin friends. I played mostly with Grace, and Adrienne. Sometimes, I would play with Natalia and Daniela.
First, Adrienne and I went to the lake where kids from other cabins were kayaking. We were not really sure what to do. A lifeguard came over and asked, “Girls, are you here to do the cabin challenge or to free kayak?”
“What is the cabin challenge for?” I inquired. She explained that we would earn cabin points. The cabin with the most cabin points on the last day of camp would be able to have a pizza party and stay up late.
A cheerful girl from my cabin came over and said, “I overheard you guys talking about the cabin challenge. I’d like to do it, too!” Grace was with the Spanish girls, Natalia and Daniela, who came along, too. These girls always spoke Spanish to each other, which they spoke better than English, and kept to themselves a bit.
Adrienne replied, “Sure!” The lifeguard told us to come back in 15 minutes. In the meantime, we visited the canteen and gathered our other team members for the challenge. Initially, I wasn’t excited about the cabin challenge, but since everyone else wanted to do it, I went along with it. Katie, Ellie and Hailey also didn’t want to do it. Adrienne enticed them by reminding them about the cabin points.
“Come on guys. By getting cabin points, we can win a pizza party!”
Soon, mostly everyone agreed. Even some of the people who did not agree, had to do it, because Adrienne told them that she had already told the lifeguard that they were doing the cabin challenge.
The cabin that we were racing against had more people than us, so we decided that Adrienne could go twice, because she had her own kayak at home.
We won the kayak race, and all cheered. As I cheered for my teammates, I heard someone scream, “Ahhhh!” as they went across the zip line above us.
After the camper came down, I asked her if it was fun and she enthusiastically said, “Yes! It was awesome!” I was thinking Scary Aerie might actually be fun. Everybody else liked it, anyway…
The Spanish girls, Daniela and Natalia, taught us how to say, “Chocolo!” in Spanish. It meant “high five.” The Spanish girls asked me to teach them something in Chinese. Grace joined in with them and said, “Yes! Teach us something in Chinese!” I taught them how to say “You are my friend.” in Chinese. It sounds like “Wo shi ni de pong you. “ All my cabin mates went around saying that to each other. Soon, I heard the phrase almost every five minutes!
We didn’t win the pizza party, but we did get to go for French fries at the canteen.
Grace shared; “I am going to a Selena Gomez concert!” as Adrienne and I ate our fries and drank our soda. She must have been so excited! I wished I could go. I always miss the chance. Once, in Hershey Park, Selena was performing there the next day! I missed it because my family and I had to leave our hotel by the next morning.
The French fries tasted so good, but they came in huge boxes, so we looked for people who would take our extra fries. We met some people from our cabin, but they didn’t want them, so we walked up the hill asking random people to take them. We had to go to Scary Aerie and we couldn’t eat there. A counselor up the hill with red hair accepted them. She said, “Thank you!” and we ran back down the hill to the woods where Scary Aerie would be going on.
We walked past the lake and the life guard there said, “Ok, there will be a bear that randomly jumps out at you. The password is BANANAS. Say that to the bear and he will let you pass.” He used his walkie talkie to relay the new password.
We walked carefully, wondering if he was telling the truth. Finally, we arrived at Scary Aerie without seeing the bear.
Some of our cabin mates were already there in their helmets and harnesses. We sat in the line and waited our turns to get our equipment. I felt nervous as I waited. It felt like hours.
The rock climbing wall was so tall, and the tightrope and zip line were just as high in the air. I watched the first person from our cabin, Jackie; go up the rock climbing the wall slowly and carefully. She almost fell once, which scared me, but she grabbed on to something else quickly.
Next up was Hailey. She did pretty well; she didn’t fall at all. She looked so professional. I’ll bet she thought she was so perfect. Many people from our cabin went, got past Scary Aerie and went kayaking in the lake.
Soon, it was my turn. One of the counselors put all of my equipment on – a helmet and a harness. I felt heavy. Would I fall? Two more people from my cabin went before it was my turn. Slowly and carefully, I climbed up the rock climbing wall. Whew, no falls! I got inside the fence and the counselor helped me to undo my harness and connect it to the next one, which was the ceiling. Soon, she connected it to the rope above the tightrope. As I walked, holding on to the side ropes; I watched the rope underneath me carefully, putting one foot in front of the other. My legs were trembling and so was the rope. I wobbled through the whole thing, but finally I stepped safely on to the platform. I felt accomplished. A counselor there told me to climb up the steps, which I did slowly, since the steps were so steep. He undid my harness and I sent it back to the next person. He harnessed me to the zip line. I felt a “whoosh” and was off. The zip line was so fun that I never wanted it to end. I looked down at the lake and saw some random people in kayaks waving to me. I thought they might be people from my cabin, but I didn’t wave, because I wasn’t sure. When I got to the other side, I didn’t know what to do. A counselor was shouting directions at me, but I couldn’t make them out. Finally, I made out the words, “Hold on to the white rope and climb on to the ladder.” I did this carefully, because the ladder had wheels on the bottom and I felt like I would fall. She helped me out of my harnesses, and I climbed down holding them. She told me to return them to a box at the start of Scary Aerie.
Once I got to the bottom, Jackie said, “I was waving to you! Why didn’t you wave back?”
“Because I thought you were a random person!” We laughed.
I felt light again. Nothing was weighing me down anymore!
Soon, it was social hour. Usually, Ashley let us go down to the cabin and take showers earlier than we were supposed to. That was awesome! Usually we had an event, like the counselors playing a skit, or a cabin cheer, but tonight there was nothing. I got to go straight to the cabin. Adrienne, Grace, Natalia, Daniela and I talked about how fun camp was as we relaxed on Grace’s top bunk. I felt so comfortable. We decided that Hailey was pretty mean. It felt good to know that someone else also felt that way about her.
It was the last night at camp. It had flown by so quickly!
Packing was easy for me because I had left all of my clothes in my bag, but I still had to push them down to make them fit. Other campers (those who had arrived early or on time) had put their clothes in drawers, so they were pulling out clothes and packing them in suitcases. I was able to relax instead. I walked around to watch other campers packing. I was the third gymnast to be packed and ready to go. The cabin was filled with goodbyes and hugs. With different voices of kids and parents all mixed together, it sounded like shouting. People and suitcases crowded the floor, so there wasn’t much room to walk. I didn’t have much to carry, because I hadn’t brought bedding and only had one suitcase.
When Adrienne’s dad came to pick us up, I was happy to see that he was one of the first parents to arrive. I appreciate parents who are on time, because I hate having to wait. When I am picked up late from gymnastics, I feel bad because the gym coaches are trying to close the gym and I am holding them up. I was wishing that we could extend camp another day. Adrienne finally said, “We have to go, Angie.” She didn’t sound sad, because she knew she’d be back next year.
“Did you have fun? What was it like to be here?” Adrienne’s dad asked. We both told about how fun it was as we walked slowly to the car.
We got in the car and drove past the hotel where he stayed the night before. He said, “That’s where I slept last night! The people under me were having a party. They would not shush even though I went down and told them that they were a little loud.”
I am sitting on a gray, leather seat in my friend’s dad’s car. My friend Adrienne is resting and talking to her mom on the phone. I am thinking about all the fun I had, but I am also remembering my nervousness and some problems I faced. In the end, I fit in and had fun with my friends, so I am excited for next year. I hope I get to stay for two weeks next year.