Spit list. Two words every journalism cherub fears. Arriving late to anything gives Community Associates reason to spitlist a journalism cherub.

On the first day of the program a CA explained that everyone would be spitlisted at some point. In some state of arrogance or denial I decided then that I would not be ‘everyone.’ I decided to argue my way out of any spitlisting.

That plan failed. I was two minutes late to a group trip to the Chicago Sun-Times, but that’s late enough. The exact details of my tardiness will always be disputed. However, because of tardiness, I would indefinitely be waking up on Sunday at 6:00 a.m. to perform some menial task.

I spent the entire week dreading a punishment I should have received much earlier (there were other instances of tardiness I had accrued over the course of five weeks). Regardless, I still felt slighted in this particular situation.

I could not function at 5:59 a.m., when I met the spit list group in the lobby of East Fairchild, prepared to sloppily follow orders.

Once everyone found a seat, CA Elise Butler explained that we would not be doing anything physical or janitorial. Instead, we would be writing notes to every cherub, saying something special about that particular camper.

Spit list immediately became something more than a punishment. I started to think. Who should I write to? How many people do I know at camp? With less than a week left there were still cherubs with whom I have not had spoken to.

I decided to whom I would write and at that moment I grew scared. I had so little time left with all of these people I had just begun to know. I had barely scratched the surface.

My notes came from my heart. And I knew that Elise had chosen an appropriate spit list task.

For the rest of the week I will contemplate everything I have done during this camp. I will regret what I have not done. I will fear what I did wrong. But greatest of all, I will appreciate everything I have done correctly. I will remember all of my friends and cherish them for years to come.

Thank you Elise for helping me to focus on my fellow cherubs for the last week.