Bio-Dreyland

Session+1+prepares+for+float+trip.

Mrs. Bahe

Session 1 prepares for float trip.

Carrie Zhang, Reporter

During the second week of May, two groups from the freshman class attended BioDreyland. Though I was in the second session and experienced some rain and chilly weather, I will remember my time there as some of my favorite parts of ninth grade. On the first day, I had the pleasure of waking up at 5:30 to finish packing and attend Congress before loading onto the buses with my panda stuffed animal and duffel bag that was bigger than Emory Sigmund. After a three-hour bus ride and a small hike down to the camp, we sat at the gravel bar for a quick orientation, moved into our cabins and ate a filling lunch. Next, we were immediately thrown into our first class.

We had one full day of six classes — three on stream ecosystems and three on forests — taught by Mrs. Bahe, Mrs. Ward, Dr. Walther, and Mrs. Goran. The next day consisted of four classes and our cookout under the supervision of Mr. Haveman and our senior counselors. On the night of my group’s cookout, rain was pouring. Dry sticks were hard to come by, and unfortunately, our fire was not much taller than four feet, which is probably still taller than me. On the third day, we had our last two classes after breakfast, followed by the float trip, volleyball and other games planned by the senior counselors.

Then, it was work time. For the remainder of the night, the students worked together to complete the packet and write two essays with assistance from teachers. After a restless night, we cleaned out our cabins and finished the packets. We had the pleasure of burning the unnecessary portions of our packets, and luckily nobody made the colossal mistake of burning the actual packet. After a well-needed brunch and the last rounds of clean up, we walked a mile out of camp to the buses. We headed home.

BioDreyland has always had a notorious reputation. There are the annual horror stories passed down from sophomore class to freshmen. There is the dreaded, massive packet. There are the late nights staying up, frantically rushing to complete a couple more pages. Then, there are the fun moments, the moments when everyone has a chance to relax for a second and simply spend time with their friends and teachers in a truly wonderful place.

Students were worried about the four days they would be spending down in Salem, Missouri. Stress. Fatigue. Worry. But life at Burroughs would not be normal if there was no stress or fatigue or worry. The days we have at the camp should be cherished. Freshmen Amy Phillips and Dylan Fox shared similar experiences. Phillips describes her experience as “fun.” She clarified, “The workload was a lot, but it was a lot more manageable than I thought it would be.” Freshmen Dylan Fox said that “It was a lot of work, but I still had a lot of fun there.” The camp directors make sure to include a couple activities to reduce our stress levels, such as the float trip, a couple rounds of volleyball, and the events planned by the seniors.

It would also be the last time the seniors had to see or experience the camp. Senior Katie Jackson, a Session II counselor, stated that she enjoyed her time and that, “we all know the place so well that it was chill to explore and have the freedom to do that and say goodbye to the place.”

For any eighth graders or seventh graders that are worried about BioDreyland, don’t be. Work well and efficiently with others. If you have spare time, use it.This will eliminate rushing at the end. Besides that, enjoy the place. The memories that I have made from Dreyland when I was an awkward seventh grader and the memories from BioDreyland will stay with me for the rest of my life.