Returning: A Different Experience

Returning: A Different Experience

Last year I came to camp for the first time. A lot of my life since then has been shaped around UP: both American and Middle Eastern acquaintances became some of my closest friends, and my academic thought seemed to always come back to the conflict. I was in awe of...
LIT Graduation

LIT Graduation

As we walked into the auditorium and helped our campers get situated, a fellow coach turned to me and said, “What are the odds we cry?” Without skipping a beat, I turned back to him. “100%. No doubt.” Sure enough, just a few minutes later, my eyes began to fill as I...
Saying Goodnight

Saying Goodnight

Last night, as I led my campers to their rooms for some much-needed rest, two of them took quite some time. Waiting on campers is no new experience – most of them like to take their time gathering their things, putting on sunscreen, walking from place to place, and...
UP Families

UP Families

In 2014, five members of the Ultimate Peace Friendship Tour came to Chicago. I came home from school for the week to help with fundraisers, events, and to show them around. Two members of the group stayed at my house – then second year LITs. I won’t embarrass them too...
Are We Ready?

Are We Ready?

We have talked about Ultimate Peace for a year. We have requested donations, reached out at tournaments, organized complex travel plans, and shared with many people the importance of this work. We flew long, unusual paths to get here and have spent many hours...
At First and Second Glance

At First and Second Glance

Whoa. Shockingly, it was not as easy as I thought it would be – walking into a new group of young people in a country halfway across the world who chat away familiarly in what seem to me foreign languages. They hug, laugh, cheer, dance, and perform intimately created...