It was ungodly hot. My shirt was sticking to me like glue and it wasn’t going to get any better because I was about to get onto a school bus with no airconditioning full of my fellow sweaty classmates. To top it all off, I was incredibly nervous. The sort of nervousness where you sort of feel like you might throw up any second. I was about to spend four days and three nights with a group of my classmates completely away from home and any technology. And I had no idea what I was getting into. Besides, I could see some of the guys climbing into the buses already being a little too loud and I doubted that they would take any of this seriously. I rolled my eyes and climbed onto the bus. 

Later, I walked around the large meeting room trying to find my name on the notebooks they had placed to tell us where to sit and who we would be spending the next few days with. The air conditioning was up full blast and I was now wishing I had brought a sweater. When I looked up at those around me my heart dropped. Seated next to me was Jason, the kid who I saw as the tough guy, someone who would judge me and make fun of me behind my back. Now I was even more nervous. I swallowed tensely and faced forward as the retreat leaders began to explain some of the basics of the day to us. Next thing I knew, I was in a small room with my group, Jason included, and they were asking us to talk about our lives based on an activity we had just done. We had just met around three hours ago and we were all a little tense. That’s when Jason spoke, he began to share some moments from his life and then hesitating for a moment, his voice broke and tears welled up in his eyes as he shared a part of his life he had told very few. We sat together in silent shock. The kid we all saw as the tough guy around campus had just opened up in a way that the rest of us had for the last few hours been too afraid to do. It changed something in us. From then on, we were much more open with each other, we hugged, supported one another, and laughed together at our collective nervousness. If Jason hadn’t opened up in the way that he did on that first day, I doubt my experience would have been nearly as amazing as it was and I know that my group members would say the same. It’s easy to make judgments and assumptions about someone when you don’t know them. I judged in the fear that I was being judged. Jason taught me that people are rarely what they seem. To this day, Jason is still one of my closest friends and someone I see as a shoulder to lean on. I am thankful that I was able to learn at such an early age that if you judge people before you truly know them, you miss out on an opportunity to love them for all that they are.