Article June 30, 2014 Issue

Reject, replace, rejoice

Taylor Macintire

During the summer before my freshman year of high school, I attended a camp for Christian Scientists in Colorado. While I was there, my friends and I challenged ourselves to peak a 14,000-foot mountain called “Yale.” I have been hiking my whole life, but I had never peaked a mountain before—so I was really looking forward to this opportunity.

The day before this climb, my shoulder and arm had been hurting and I had been feeling sharp pain all the way to my fingers. During the hike the next day, the pain grew even greater, and although we made it to the top of the mountain—an exhilarating feeling—I was getting worried.

When we were on our way down the mountain, I slipped and fell and landed on the arm that had been hurting. As I got up, I found I couldn’t move my wrist or my fingers. A counselor helped me down the mountain, and when we returned to camp, I went to see the Christian Science practitioner who works there.