Pinecrest pt.3

This is the third time I’m at Pinecrest, and it’s almost definitely the last.

This one has been exhausting, I don’t think I’ve felt physically worse in a very long time, and I think it’s very easy to say I regret doing this to myself — paying to lower my standard of living. But I think this one is meaningless nevertheless, it’s the same trip, same activities, same horrifying memories of sleepless nights and long days, but this time, instead of only having to worry about my sanity, I’m in charge of a new class of niners at Garneau.

That experience, to put it simply, is so incredibly meaningful because this is their introduction to the TOPS community, and their home for the next 4 years. This is what has always made TOPS special, and as it slowly dies in academic rigour, I hope it will be the one thing that still defines our community.

Pinecrest in gr9 was one of those trips I missed because of the pandemic, and although our grade seems fine on the surface nevertheless, I sometimes wonder what it would be like if we got that trip, how our social dynamics would be different, how my friendships could have changed. it’s so special because it happens so early into the high school experience, when no cliques and circles have formed; before all of that, you get to experience the most genuine parts of people.

One of my best friends has always told me that you never really know your people until you go tripping with them, and I think he’s right, this experience is so important because it speeds up the bonding condition that otherwise would have happened in 3 or 4 years into a handful of days — it gives you the opportunity to get to know people, but beyond that, it gives you a chance to build trust in its most precious forms, to walk with people you barely know in the dark, to share secrets.

My friends and I have coined this term: the Pinecrest Effect. It’s described by social conditions rapidly changing, and if you know my grade, you probably know what I’m taking about :)

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For what it’s worth, I don’t think TOPS is going to die, at least not any time soon. Although some of these new faces I’ve met in the last few days are awfully rowdy, and sometimes dislikable, I have so much faith in them, faith that most of my peers probably doesn’t share. Although the lottery means these kids might have been less academically inclined in middle school, I can not ever deny their passion and drive — whether it not naive optimism. I think that’s what really matters at the end of the day, it’s the fact that you care that will bring you places in life.

When we were fire building, the magnesium rod just refused to light the birch, one of the groups tried for so long, till their hands and knees were black, grained with rubble and dirt, but they had an unwavering determination to start the fire, to refuse help despite trying for so long. That interaction was beautiful, because the ability to care is something that I think should be valued above all else.

In some world, i will argue these classes of TOPS students from 2024 will do better in life than the rest of us before them, I don’t really know how or why, but I felt an atmosphere this week that I’ve never felt with my class.

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This pinecrest trip was far from perfect, things could have gone better, I could have learned more songs on the guitar, I probably could have spent more time talking to niners instead of playing shengji, I also missed a perfect shot with a seaplane swishing down into the sunset mirrored lake. And I won’t say I don’t regret, because not everything has a perfect ending, these are just the imperfections that will define fall pinecrest 2024.

Best of luck to TOPS class of 2029!