Reports from the forth day of camp.

South Team:

Day 4!

Hey guys, its Jackson Gordon back again with the news from day 4. I’m just going to start off by saying, WOW what an amazing day! Today we traveled down to Nebraska Wesleyan and were able to hang out with the children who go to the Shriner’s Hospital. I had a special little guy that I got to hang out with. His name was Coop. Coop was said to be the best Jenga player at the camp. So what did I do? I challenged him to a game! Our game went on for about 20 minutes, going back and forth trying to figure out which pieces we could take out next. We didn’t get to finish our game though because of the thunder storms that started to roll in. This forced us to end our game and go inside. We decided to to start a new game, except this time we decided to team up and challenge Bryce Stai and his friend Cali. This time our game lasted 45 minutes. It was the most intense game I have ever been apart of. The pressure was on, and all eyes were on us. Our teams went back and forth, taking out each piece very steadily, making sure that the jenga tower didn’t tip over. Finally, Coop and I successfully pulled out a piece from the bottom, and the structure stayed standing. But when I went to place the wooden block back on top of the structure, the tower fell over, and Bryce and Cali had defeated Coop and I. Even though we took the L in Jenga, today was still a very fun day. We finished up the day with a little team bowling. Bowling was awesome! Some of the guys were really good, and some of the guys were really not. My favorite part was watching Gus Woeppel shotput the bowling ball down the lane. Day 4 was a fun and excited day, and its an experience I will never forget. Hanging out with the kids from the Shriner’s hospital really humbles a person, and makes you realize that not everyone is as lucky as you are. Check back in for more about day 5 tomorrow from Bryce Stai!

Signing off,

Jackson Gordon #19

North Team:

Despite the technological difficulties that have reared their heads the past couple days, I’m now able to talk about one of the most eye-opening experiences I’ve ever had: the Beyond The Field event. 

The Nebraska Shrine Bowl has given us the opportunity to play one more week of high school football. Anyone who loves football as much as I do is grateful for that opportunity to compete against the best of the best. But what this game is about is the kids at the Shriner’s Hospitals around the country. Both the North and the South squads came together and interacted with patients. We were all split up into groups and rotated through a series of stations that exhibited a specific challenge that the patients at the hospital have to go through every day. 

The first station we went to showed how kids with prosthetic limbs live their daily lives. I volunteered to try and pick up objects with a prosthetic arm, along with Joe Dolincheck, to experience the degree of difficulty of living without an arm. At the end, I competed against Poppy—a little kid who used a prosthesis on her left arm—to see who could sort the objects quicker. 

It’s safe to say she dusted me. 

After the stations, all the players, coaches, and patients went out onto the field at Nebraska Weslyean to play whatever games the kids wanted to play. Seeing those kids who had every right to not be happy run around and have fun like everyone else made my day. Interacting with those kids and building those relationships is what this game is about. I am very proud to say that I was able to have those kids in my life—even for just a couple hours. They showed me what strength really is, what perseverance really is. 

The players may have had a strong impact on those kids, but those kids may have had a bigger impact on me.