I remember the old days in 5th grade when I was heavily involved in the chess club. I attended tournament upon tournament and took advantage of everything I possibly could to help me learn and play better chess. The OLQH Chess Camp was one of them, and I remember vividly sitting down next to one of my old chess buddies as the camp began. I remember my coach’s lesson and the move that I correctly answered (pawn to f4). I even remember the tournament that followed the instructional part of the camp. It was a great experience as I remember it. Years passed by and I of course kept up my chess, playing in even more tournaments and putting even more hours into my chess studies. Over the course of the next five years, I forgot about that OLQH camp that I attended, so never in a million years would I have predicted that I’d be organizing and directing it, but it happened. And now, four years later, I’ve completed my fourth year of organizing and directing the OLQH Chess Camp. Hard to believe that I’ve made it this long without a kid breaking his leg or setting the building on fire. Of course, we do witness our mishaps, like last year when I walked into the bathroom after the camp was finished only to find that it had basically been completely destroyed… or when during the first year of camp, half of my coaches had bailed at the last second, leaving myself and one other person to try to control and teach a group of 70 rowdy, sugar-enriched kids more interesting in seeing how far they could throw a chess piece rather than how well they could play a chess game. This year, my coaches and I counted how many kids fell out of their chairs from leaning forward too much. We counted over thirty. Nonetheless, I enter each year of camp with more lessons learned, and not-surprisingly every year, less pieces are thrown, less noise can be heard from residents ten miles away, and overall, more chess is taught into these 3-second attention span brains. Now, after my fourth year, I still come home with such amazement. To see these 8-year-olds running around and screaming at the top of their lungs get quiet and serious in less than a second all because they’re ready to play chess is one of the most amazing things. Seeing the students implement strategies that we taught them in the camp during their tournament games is even more amazing, and you can always see the excitement in their eyes because of their success. No matter how much I gripe and complain about how exhausting or stressful the entire process is, I know deep down that I love doing it. Besides, these kids deserve a summer venue to be able to learn and play chess, and well, as long as I’m here and able, I’ll give them the opportunity.