To read part sixteen of day thirteen, click here.

I looked up from studying my hands to watch my crewmates. In less than two weeks we’d become friends. Bobby and Rebecca were laughing together, Bruce, Luke, and Kayce were doing something weird, and the others were wandering around looking at interesting things in the clearing, laughing and talking the whole time.

Jen and Katie came out and we started walking back to the platform, everyone satisfied. It had been a good evening – the time together in the platform, talking with Colter’s crewmates, and the ah-mazing dinner.

When we got to the platform we began the usual night time routine – getting changed, brushing teeth, going to the bathroom in groups, etc. Then we all slid into our sleeping bags and talked. We talked, and we talked, and we talked. We talked so much that no one heard Katie the first time.

“I said, can you all sit up and pay attention??”

It took a minute, but after a bit of elbowing and kicking we managed to get everyone’s attention.

Katie and Jen talked for quite a while about the importance of Outward Bound. They talked about how they tried to be a positive influence and how they tried to help people change. Then Katie pulled out a handful of pins and a bundle of papers. The pins were for us, if we felt that we deserved them. If we thought that we had upheld the four pillars, (compassion, craftsmanship, physical fitness, and self-reliance) then we should come up with a reason why we deserved a pin and we would get one. If we didn’t think we deserved our pin though, we shouldn’t take one. When we felt that we were ready for it, all we had to do was call or write to Outward Bound and they would ship it to us.

I don’t remember any of the reasons. I do remember that a couple of the guys didn’t take pins, saying that they weren’t ready for it yet.

When we were done with the pin portion of the ceremony, Katie pulled out the papers from before.

“I’m going to give each of you one of these certificates. You will not get your own, you will get someone else’s. When you give them their certificate, you have to say something nice about them. Something about them you admire. Something that helped you on your course.”

Katie shuffled through the papers and started handing them out. You could tell she wasn’t just handing them out randomly – she was thinking carefully about who got which certificate. I prayed that I’d get an easy one – I’m not good at coming up with things like that on the spot. When she handed one to me, I looked down at the name and grimaced. I had no idea what I was going to say for Tullia.

*Everything here is from my own memory and may not be correct. Outward Bound is not responsible for anything I post here. Thanks too NCOBS for letting me use their photos.*