2006...The Greatest Gift

My final year. That's what I said as we started the summer of 2006. After all, three years is enough, right? And it was going to be a summer of great milestones, so it's best to go out with a bang! Harvey's cheer-off drought finally ends, the largest EFY session ever outside of Provo takes place in San Antonio, and Harvey had his first kiss. j/k. Well about the kiss. I would never joke about the cheer-off.

So, Jeff Nicholas, now the coordinator, talked me into being a building counselor, leaving behind my beloved youth to deal instead with the not nearly as cool counselors. So we compromised, I would be a counselor in Denton and a BC in San Antonio. I was rewarded with probably my favorite co-counselor of all time, Amanda Little. What an absolute treat it was to spend my last (cough) counselor week with her. She was so amazing, is now married, and has a little baby. Precious!! You pair her up with someone as amazing as me and youth like Kent, Matt, Kenyan, Eric, Andrew, Jack, Bryce, and many others, you have one STELLAR week!

Anyway, seeing how this was my last (cough) chance to win the cheer-off, I laid the pressure on pretty thick. I had always vowed to never tell my kids what to sing/say/dance/perform; the only advice would give was: yall need to be louder...everyone has to participate...or...kick the excitement level up a notch! Because I truly felt my life would be unfulfilled without a cheer-off championship, I seriously almost went back on that vow. I mean, not only did I know full well what made a successful cheer, I also had had the same company name, Servant of All, back in 2004 so I totally could have rocked it out. I am happy to admit I did not...primarily due to the fact I was on variety show duty and missed much of the cheer prep, but still, I kept my input to a minimum. The first time I really saw it was as they preformed it at games night.

Well, let's be totally honest...I've seen better cheers, but I've also seen worse cheers take the prize, but it's not always about the coreography or the script. There is 'joy in the journey' (little 2003 EFY throwback for you...ha..ha..haaaa..) from that first awkward Monday afternoon meeting where the kids can't even talk to each other to all of a sudden 50 hours later try to think of the hippest/chessiest/rockingest cheer you can think of in conjunction with a name rooted in a scriptural verse. So while I've seen some great cheers that more like productions, the only time I've ever been disapointed in my group was when they didn't A) take it seriously, B) didn't have full participation and c) thought they were 'too cool' for this. I mean, comeon, we're at EFY...the ipidomy of cheesy...get over it. In fact, this past summer when I was coordinator and acted as one of the cheer-off judges (by far and away one of the best perks of the job), I saw the cheer of one group that had Eric and Kenyan in it. It was pretty lame, I mean it was laaaammmmeeee, and it was so funny to have both boys come up to me, almost ashamed, and apologize for pretty much blaspheming the sacredness of the cheer-off. "We're sorry, Harvey" was all they could say. So clearly after 3 years, that lecture I gave them on Monday afternoon at 'Meet Your Counselor' truly sunk in.

I think what set this cheer apart from all the others in years past was one of my beloved boys, Bryce Romney, started off the cheer with the disclaimer: "We would like to dedicate this performance to Harvey since this is his last week as a counselor." This turned out to be the first of many shout-outs and of course came to a complete suprise. Jeff and Julia started laughing and looked at me with the “that’s a cheap trick, son.” But I think the shocked look on my face convinced them I had nothing to do with it. I don’t know who’s idea it was, if the kids thought of it or if Amanda suggested it, but honestly I think if it hadn't been for that plea for mercy and pity, we might not have walked away champions of the EFY...and quite possibly champions of the world.

The thing I LOVED about all this though, was the kids got into the excitement of it all. They saw it was important to me, and so it became important to them. True, I really wanted to win a cheer-off, but by keeping my distance in the planning and execution of the cheer I kept the focus on them. I wanted to make a big deal out of it because I knew it would increase participation and up the hype for the week. If it gave them a goal to work towards, come together as a company, and provided a bit of meaning for the week, I figured it was worthwhile. That and I freakn wanted to win a cheer-off. I still have a video of the Friday night awards banquet. My kids were around me…I was too worried and stressed to even eat my cake (I know, I almost can't believe it myself), and then Sandi Wright announced Servant of All. I jumped up and all the kids were whooping and hollering and cheering, it was awesome. I don't remember who won the 16-18 yr old cheer off, but their counselor came up to me and said "you know Harvey, when we won my kids were like, 'why can't you be as excited as Harvey?' and I was like 'Because I'm not as good as Harvey is.'" That's so not true, but in a way it kinda is.

So I go from that elation to the 'dreaded' BC role. (I'm really going to bash the position of BC beacuse that's how I felt at the time, but please be aware I have had a 'Come to Jesus' moment regarding the beloved BCs.) I remember moving into my room on the bottom floor in Thomas and for the first time seeing all the doors and realized none of these would have my youth. Then came the door tags and 'meet your counselor' notes, followed by the influx of those little HBs, but this time they weren't my little HBs! The worst part of it all was Friday night and seeing all the unified "We'll love each forever!" groups taking pictures. I died a little inside. Basically, what I am trying to say is I pouted all week. Never that summer or the next did I catch the spirit of the effect a BC can have on his or her counselors and how that feeds down to the youth. I'm sure I was taught that lesson somewhere along the way, and I had fantastic examples of what fantastic BCs are, and it wasn't like the BC team was a bunch of stuck up, annoying, lame punks...they were some of my favorite people. And with Jeff and Julia at the helm, Julia being sweet and overall goodness and Jeff in his 'Mr. Smither's Chair' (which no one realized until the following year that it should have been called the 'Mr Burn's Chair' because Mr Smithers was actually his homosexual assistant/admirer), I have no one to blame for my depression besides myself. I did have fun, however. The best Thursday night activity ever happened that week, one where we frosted cookies for another member of the team, it was pretty much magical. I guess I will just have to come back for another year to see if I could get this BC thing right...

I guess I just took BCs for granted when I was a counselor. I remember Jeff checking in on me just about every night after lights out in 2005. I was already in bed and tired and stuff, but he would pop his head in to see how my day went, how he could help, and probably told a lame joke or something. I saw what being a good BC was, but I never made the connection of 'When I'm a BC, this is everything I can do for my counselors and I can love them as much as I love my boys'

It wasn't until I became a coordintor, and I saw my little brother work his magic, that I truly realized how much of an effect an incredible BC can have on his/her group. I'm probably gonna say this again, but my greatest regret out of all my years is being a mediocere building counselor.