The moment is now, legacy is forever.
For the past three weeks, this has been a recurring theme in Mohawk. Regardless of what activity we did, the Mohawk staff repeatedly attempted to drill this concept into our campers. And no activity better embodied this phrase to us than Fight Song.
My connection with Fight Song is deeper than most people at camp; I competed in my first one in 2006 at my old camp, and have previously helped write Cayuga’s 2011 and 2012 fight songs before working on Mohawk’s this year. I still remember the feeling I had as a fourteen year old camper screaming rewritten lyrics to Kanye West and dancing with my forty fellow campers, but Fight Song never really meant anything to most of us beyond the desire to win and the glory accompanied with winning.
Fight Song at CSL means so much more. Since 2011, the amount of time and effort dedicated by the staff and campers of each village has increased at an exponential rate. Everyone wants to win, whether it is the brand new eight year old Cayugan or camp veterans who have experienced Fight Song every year since its introduction to camp. The 44 Mohican campers who walked into the O-Rec last night did so under the mentality that we had done everything to win. Unfortunately, we did not, losing out to an absolutely unbelievable performance from the Tusc campers and staff. The grief from defeat was overwhelming for some, but after some time, I realized that I had missed the point of Fight Song entirely.
Fight Song at Camp Seneca Lake is no longer simply about winning. Fight Song is a focal point for the entire session; not because it is a competition, but instead because it brings us together, as bunks, villages, and the camp as a whole. The bonding that occurs over three weeks of practicing, and those several precious minutes on stage, helps to shape village identities, to the point where Cayuga’s fight song this year was a perfect embodiment of everything that identifies them as individuals and as a group.
Mohawk could have easily won a physical trophy with our performance; we gave our all both physically, and mentally. We shocked camp with our tenacity and strength on stage. As I performed, I could feel the unity among us, hear the power, and confidence in our voices, see the wonderment of the audience that Mohawk was outperforming all expectation. It seemed like it was our time, and the dozens of campers I talked to once we were off stage seemed to have a similar outlook on the eventual outcome.
But in the end we didn’t need to win the trophy. Every village won last night by performing five of the most incredible fight songs I have ever heard, and doing so with unending enthusiasm. Every fight song performed was the result of dozens of hours of campers and staff working together towards a cohesive goal, when instead they could’ve been doing a myriad of other activities either alone or within their original groups of friends. Fight Song, a program that many staff and campers have voiced dislike for in my four years as a staff member, proved its value to camp on Saturday night; there is no other activity that adequately sums up the CSL motifs of getting after it, keeping an open mind about new activities, fighting through exhaustion to reach your goals, and village unity. And regardless of who won last night, I firmly believe that Mohawk did this to best of their abilities.
The village unity that came from Fight Song this year will undoubtedly permeate to future generations of Mohicans, who will push themselves harder than ever before to win the Fight Song trophy for our village, and in the process create a greater sense of village unity and pride in the process.
And if anything, that is the legacy that Mohawk 2014 will leave.
Mike Pascutoi
M-1 Counselor
M-1 Counselor
