by Zandra May A. Perez (Rescue 21)

  Tagaytay is a second class city in the province of Cavite, Philippines. It is a place where you can witness the beauty of Taal Lake and Volcano. It is a tourist attraction for local and foreign visitors. Many were magnetized and mesmerized with this beautiful gift of God. But believe it or not, I haven’t been there until I attended PSYSC’s Summer Camp.

Here's a flashback of that very wonderful and memorable experience.

  Summer is fast approaching and another big activity throughout the country will happen. From the three big plates of our beloved country, students will be gathered for this outstanding event. And I’m referring to CAMP TAGAYTAY. This is a summer camp wherein more ideas will be distributed. And this is not just a mere camp, but a camp loaded with fulfilling activities.

  April 4, 2010 at exactly 5:00 in the afternoon I left my hometown. My trip was bound to Cagayan de Oro City. I stayed there for a day and waited for April 5 to come.    

Yes! It’s already April 5 and I’m ready to fly to Manila with my dearest classmates and supportive teachers. We arrived at NAIA at exactly 9:45 in the morning. After all those nervous feelings and excitement, finally we’re already in Manila.

   Our excitement rose to the highest level when CAMP TAGAYTAY was about to start. It was our first time to join so all of us are really animated. And during our first dinner, believe it or not it really was my first time to eat bangus. After dinner, we’re ready to witness the opening program. The opening program was totally cool! With all those light effects and presentations. We were all mesmerized and magnetized. That time also, we had the congregation wherein we met with our group and started mingling with them. Our group was covered with total quietness. Thus, Ate Dash made some techniques for us to make some noise.

  The next day was full of lectures. And know what, we weren’t listening to the speakers. What we did was just talk to each other. We cracked jokes, and  tried to match our group mates with the others as if we’re doing the match-making contest. And here goes Ate Dash, our very silent type of a facilitator, here’s her line, “Guys, makinig kayo ng mabuti. And please, huwag matulog”. Then we told her, “Ok Ate Dash”. But hey! We still kept on chatting. After that, we practiced for our cheer dance while the others made our banner. During that time, I got frustrated because of this group mate of mine but then I realized that I was already acting like a child.

 

The third day, I just focused on the over-all workshop. I almost arrived late at the parking lot. Thank God I’m not late! As the workshop was about to start, I went back to our quarters because I changed my flip-flops into rubber shoes. I was already catching my breath when I reached the parking lot. I never felt any favoritism during the workshop because all of us were able to participate except for those who weren’t there. However, we can’t avoid that feeling of being underestimated due to some unexplainable reasons. At night time, here’s this Entertainment Night where my classmates were one of the presentors. Oh no! Before their presentation, we faced a trial which really tested our patience. We accidentally got locked out of one of the rooms my school is using and the keys for all of the other rooms were inside. I helped them get some help, and the only thing that could solve the problem was to destroy the doorknob. After that trial, we are still lucky for our school got the 1st place during the Entertainment Night. We went to sleep with hysterical happiness because of that wonderful thing that happened.

The last day of the camp was so sad. I was able to participate during the sub-camp quiz bee but I was late. Fortunately, in our sub-camp it wasn’t me who was the very last to arrive at the Sessions’ Hall. Yes! We got the 2nd place during the sub-camp quiz bee and we’re now ready for the field trip. I was really amazed when we reach the Aguinaldo Shrine that I took so many photos inside Gen.Aguinaldo’s house. After that, when we were fast approaching PARADIZOO a member of our group vomited. Luckily, Ate Claudine stood up as fast as she could to avoid getting dirty. Still, it didn’t ruin our trip. We felt sad for what happened. Fortunately her nausea didn’t last long so she was still able to enjoy the rest of our trip. I went biking with some of my group mates. And we took a photo while the snake was at our back. I felt its cold skin and it was a bit scary.

  Before the camp ended, we had the Pledge Night. Minutes before the activity started, my tears were already rolling down my cheeks. I never expected that to happen. I felt so sad that time that I could hardly describe my feelings. There was a part of me that never wanted the camp to end. But that’s how a camp life is. Though it will end, memories of it will never be forgotten. I really never wanted that night to end; I was also hoping that the camp will last forever. We already knew each other for a quite short time but we became so close to each other. And until now, I’m still reminiscing those barrels of laughter and those wonderful messages from my group mates.

  It was not the end of the friendship that we were able to build. We still communicate with each other through mobile phones, Facebook and Yahoo Messenger. Because of this, we are still able to tighten our bond even if we are all far from each other. I’ll always be missing this kind of camp life. I’m hoping that this will not be my first and last participation to the NATIONAL YOUTH SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND ENVIROMENT SUMMER CAMP. Indeed, CAMP TAGAYTAY was splendid!