It was hot. It was even more humid. Did I mention I was there for Debate Camp?
Yep, Debate Camp. I was the only kid from Wisconsin - and was nicknamed Wisconsin Cheese. Remember, these were other kids in debate, so they didn't have a lot of room to crack on the wise nicknames.
Opening night there was a talent show to break the ice - and I did my best rendition of Bill Cosby's Noah routine. I didn't win, but I did get some laughs and met some other kids to swelter through a summer in the heart of the Midwest.
I don't want to say it was hot, but on one of the precious few "free" days we had, we were taken to the St. Louis Zoo and the humidity managed to slide the right lens of my glasses out of the "way-cool" frames and destroy it on the sidewalk below. Kids were falling sick all over the place as we went outside into 95+ degree temperatures as the heat claimed dozens of lives around the city - and then into the air conditioned cool of libraries that were closer to 65. Whew.
I've been back to St. Louis and it's a nice place - but I'll visit in the spring and fall if you don't mind.
The purpose of the camp was to prepare for the upcoming year's debate topic and it was intense. I never worked that hard or been more prepared for debate season in my life. We went to seminars, read books and researched in the Washington University libraries, studied more at night, and ordered sustenance via the pay phone (kids, Google) at night from the First Federated Pizza Place. I'm sure it wasn't actually all that good, but in my mind it was the best pizza in the world.
I think pizza tastes in direct proportion of goodness to the badness quotient of the dorm food you have to eat during the day.
The experience was a blur, but I've kept in touch with two pen pals from that camp for years and recently made contact with one who has gone back to get a degree at Law School.
I remember my parents and sister dropping my off at the dorm and driving away - I never have felt that alone since. My debate coach drove to St. Louis to drive me back to Janesville (imagine a teacher being allowed to do that now), he helped find a scholarship for me to attend.
That next debate season was the most prepared our team had - and I learned that being more prepared also made it a lot more fun. I also learned that it's OK to be proud of the things you like doing even if others think it weird.
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