In the summer recess between freshman and sophomore years incollege， I was invited to be an instructor at a high school leadership camphosted by a college in Michigan. I was already highly involved in mostcampusactivities， and I jumped at the opportunity. About an hour into the first day of camp， amid the frenzy oficebreakers and forced interactions， I first noticed the boy under the tree.He was small and skinny， and his obvious discomfort and shyness madehim appear frail and fragile. Only 50 feet away， 200 eager campers werebumping bodies， playing， joking and meeting each other， but the boyunder the tree seemed to want to be anywhere other than where hewas. The desperate loneliness he radiated almost stopped me fromapproaching him， but I remembered the instructions from the senior staffto stay alert for campers who miqht feel left out.
展开
