The Silent Treatment

Robert Luke Benson Mr. Lowe Composition 1 June, 7 2013 The Silent Treatment Trying out for Chain Lightning was one of the harder things I have done in my life. I showed up to try out for one of the top ten ultimate teams in the nation the summer of my senior year of high school not expecting much at all. I ended up making the team, probably not for my speed or disc skills, but more than likely for my ability to keep cool. When I was trying out people kept looking down on me as if I didn't belong there. Different people said different things, but the insults kept getting worse and worse. I knew that they were just trying to get a reaction out of me, because as soon as my mouth opened I would lose my composure and start playing like they were saying. Being quiet to keep my composure was so familiar because of the Little Chief test the year before at camp. It was a grueling test that I wanted to pass just as bad as I wanted to make this team. The test would start with waking up at midnight and having to start a fire and then maintaining the flame until seven in the morning. The next task was the run which always weeds out the boys from the men. Once you had finished the run all that was left was a 1500 word essay on what the camp meant to you and manual labor until five o'clock. Throughout the entire test you cannot talk which is more on your own honor to confess rather than anything else. It took me three years to beat this test and if had lost my composure the first year I wouldn’t have been able to come back and try again. I remember receiving my Little Chief name of Wiley Ferret and thinking this test should have been passed two years ago. The third time I took the test I made sure I was prepared for it because the year before I couldn’t finish the test because of an ankle sprain. The first year I managed to fail the test on a technicality that would haunt me until I finally passed it. I remember the first year so much more vividly than the other two years as if