The Last 4 Weeks/Living Heroes

  The last four weeks I was at sleepaway camp in Maine. It was my third summer there, and this year I decided to do a program called Junior Maine Guide. I spent the first 3 weeks studying for it, chopping wood, canoeing, memorizing a map of Maine, learning first aid how to use compass, and various other wilderness skills. The last week I spent at test camp, with JMG candidates from 10 other camps. There are 21 tests I had to take, 11 majors and 10 minors. We stayed in tents and cooked every meal, and were tested on every meal. This past week was probably one of the hardest of my life, but also one of the best. To complete the JMG program was one of my goals for the Mastery Program, and I am glad that I made it through. Not a lot of campers pass on their first year, and I am really proud of myself because I did. I did a lot better than I expected. I think one of the reasons for this is because of something I learned at karate, which I kept in my mind during these tests. Sensei always says, if you mess up, mess up with power. Mess up with confidence. During my physical and oral tests, I kept my confidence, so even when I didn't know the answer, it at least looked like I knew what I was doing. 
  The only reason I passed ANY of the tests was thanks to one of my living heroes, K Buldoc. K preps the JMG's for test camp, and she's one of the testers at test camp. Thank goodness I couldn't have her, because she's a strict tester. But she's also one of the nicest people I know. K started going to sleepaway camp at age 7, and she did the JMG program in 2 years. Then she became a Maine Guide as an adult, which is a much harder version of JMG. She's been a Maine Guide since then, and is one of the few Master Maine Guides alive today. She's also almost completely blind. It is insane to watch her chop wood- she'll reach out and feel it, raise the axe, and split it right in half better than any seeing person I've ever met. Canoeing with her: she'll tell you you're doing the stroke wrong, and how to correct it, and you're just like "how can you tell"- she can feel the difference in the way the boat is moving. A brain tumor caused her to lose all of her sight in one eye, and almost all sight in the other. She has to use sticks to walk so she doesn't walk into anything, yet she still leads all of our prep trips, and brings us to test camp. She hasn't let her lack of sight slow her down in any way, and I think that makes her very admirable. I certainly owe my JMG certification to her. 
  Can't wait to see everyone! I've missed the dojo so much. See you Tuesday!! :)

JMG CANDIDATES - 2014