I frantically used as much strength as I had to propel through the water with my stubborn oar. We had almost crashed into the shore! Getting a hang of canoeing was hard, but we figured it out in no time!

We were at 6th Grade Camp. Taylor and I had just been instructed on how to canoe for the first time by the most excellent instructor that worked at camp.

“You must know,” our instructor informed, “You may splash each other, but if you try me, you are going to return completely soaked.”

“That’s good to know!” Taylor exclaimed.

The canoes metal and dented, but still in decent shape. We were the final ones to choose our canoe, so we really had no choice. We decided beforehand that I would sit in the back, because the back paddler controls the direction of the canoe. I got in, Taylor pushed off, and she stepped into the canoe. The water broke so smoothly. We floated through the water... BANG! A collision of another canoe. I was glad it wasn’t us.

We rushed off towards the first checkpoint and were doing pretty well, for beginners. Then, the worst happened. We started to get farther and farther away from the group, but closer and closer to the muddy shoreline.

I started to think about our instruction earlier today.

“Okay,” I said to Taylor. “We need to design a steady rhythm, and use it to get back on track.”

We decided to paddle three strong strokes on the left, then three more strokes on the right. It was working! We started moving at a steady pace, and were soon in the middle of the group. The feeling of being on track was the most relieving.

The next few checkpoints were fairly easy to paddle to. One of the checkpoints was near a rock with some snapping turtles on it! We were instructed not to canoe close the turtles, but I think some kid went anyways. We had to adjust our rhythm once or twice, but it was really quite worth it!

The sun began to warm up the air, so I was glad to be wearing my shorts (the only pair I had brought). I had to admit that I wasn’t as terrified of dropping my oar, seeing some sort of sea monster (even though we were on a lake), or the most frightening of all, falling out of my canoe and brushing my foot on a tree stump, only to freak out and totally make a fool out of myself.

With Taylor’s help, I learned three simple things: Canoeing is much easier than you would think, you won’t fall out if you don’t stand up in your canoe, and most importantly; working with others can be hard, but you can compromise and make it much more easy.