My daughter Nicole recently celebrated her fourth wedding anniversary. The anniversary gave me a thought to share a short story from chapter 1 of A Hero's Journey: Beyond Little Norway and Olympia Sports Camp. This story reflects on the quality of relationships that are formed through camp, of potentially life-changing experiences if you take the bat off the shoulder, and the six degrees of separation that is so prevalent at Olympia.



A basketball and soccer player at St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Tottenham, Brenna Buchanan got a job as a counsellor at Olympia through the connection and referral of my brother Pat. Highly enthusiastic with a bubbly personality, she was perfect for Olympia. Loved the place.


My daughter Nicole was a lifetime 'coach's kid' who always wanted to work at Olympia.  She applied for and got the job. Never knowing each other before, Brenna and Nicole became great friends and worked together for three years. Suffice to say that these two great leaders added as much to the Olympia fabric as Olympia added to their life experience. 




Assistant director Greg Rogers began to organize trips to Kenya for students in Toronto, where he worked with the Toronto Catholic school board as leadership coordinator. Included on these trips were more and more Olympia staff. The hero's journey involves a sharing of talents so that the vibration we bring will help others in their journey. I saw Greg's efforts as Olympia gone worldly, and the vibration of Olympia was being shared far and wide. The values of Olympia were being shared around the world.


 In 2009, Brenna and Nicole caught the bug and wanted to go. Two great kids from different parts of the province met because they got hired at Olympia and become good friends. They both get inspired by everything Olympia and want to share more of their energy for the betterment of others. After a year’s planning, they found themselves living with, working with, and teaching the young Masai warrior families outside Nairobi, Kenya, for three weeks. Life-changing.

 

Life-changing experiences through taking on challenges is what  the hero’s journey is all about. 


Maybe the most poignant aspect of the story of these two Olympians is that 9 years later, in 2018, Brenna was in Nicole's wedding party. 


The coolest part of this may be that the story of Nicole and Brenna can and has been repeated hundreds of times throughout the generations of Olympia Sports Camp. Everyone reading this has such a story. This is just one. Many others you'll be able to read about. Coming this fall.

 

 

The link to the blog is TuesdayswithDave.blogspot.com


This blog is about the journey of the writing of the book A Hero's Journey: From Little Norway to Olympia Sports Camp. The blog will contain excerpts from the book and my personal thoughts on what the place and the people that make up Olympia's journey is all about. The title comes from the great book Tuesdays With Morrie, by Mitch Albom. The blog's title is recognizing Dave Grace as Camp Director, but all content is my own.

 

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