Teens Talk Tough Times by Jack Canfield & Mark Victor Hansen & Amy Newmark

Author:Jack Canfield & Mark Victor Hansen & Amy Newmark
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Chicken Soup for the Soul
Published: 2009-10-15T00:00:00+00:00

Mountain Fever

What is possible? What you will.

~Augustus William Hare and Julius Charles Hare

The coup de grâce of our senior year at Oregon Episcopal School in Portland, Oregon, was an experiential program based in part on the Outward Bound philosophy, a twenty-seven mile hike through the Columbia Gorge, the first event of its kind in the school’s history. There was no such thing as a category for disabled teens on this adventure, and I was an amputee with many deformities.

Participation was voluntary, of course, and involved training in both endurance and rappelling. When the idea was presented to our senior class and our principal asked who didn’t want to go, only one hand went up in the room, and it wasn’t mine. Martha was healthy and capable, but she had no interest: “No way on earth I’m diving off cliffs, hauling a forty-pound backpack through a cold forest in the rain and cleaning bugs out of a sleeping bag in the middle of the night,” she wailed. Everyone laughed, but seemed nonplussed and undeterred from what could befall us.

We were given a choice: final exams or the hike. Suddenly the room fell silent and everyone stared straight at me, their laser eyes like pin pricks in a voodoo doll. My classmates were waiting for my hand to go up in the nervous air. They stared so hard I was sure they could see my underwear. I said nothing. I didn’t move.

I wanted to go so badly I could almost taste the moisture in the trees, but I feared that I would drain the patience and strength of my friends who had the luxury of taking navigation for granted. I knew it was a crazy idea because it held so much risk of disappointment, but I was determined to go. Later that day, after math class was over, I was walking by the faculty lounge and stopped to pick up a book I dropped. The door was barely cracked and I froze when I heard my name.

“Janet didn’t raise her hand,” said Sam Dibbins, our tennis coach.

“What the heck are we going to do? There’s no way on this green Earth that girl can hike those trails, cross those creeks and carry forty pounds on her back with just one leg,” said one of the science teachers. “If she collapses or takes a bad fall, we’ll have to carry her out,” he said. “It isn’t prudent.” Suddenly the room grew gravely quiet. “Maybe, if we’re lucky, her father won’t sign the permission form,” he added.

As the conversation continued, they discussed the fact that Outward Bound was all about people pushing the limits, breaking set boundaries and realizing their potential.

“We’ll figure it out,” said Dibbins. “I say she goes! It may drag down the other kids, but it will also teach them teamwork.” I limped off down the hall, hoping they hadn’t heard the noisy click of my artificial knee.

One night during spring break, I waited until after dinner and took the permission form into my father’s study.

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