Cole McNeiLL '20 Recruiting Profile

It was a bright summer day in 2008 when I was going into 1st grade and it was the first summer I went to Iverbe sports camp. When I first arrived at camp I was blown away because it was the first camp experience I had walked into the gym and saw a bunch of kids playing games. My first day of camp I was shy because I did not know many kids but after my 3rd day of camp I blended in and started making new friendships that I made for life. Being the new kid at camp I looked up to a bunch of the older kids because they were my role models.

In my 4th year camp I met a Counselor named Miles. Miles influenced me by making me laugh and telling stories.He also taught me about commitment because he played college basketball at Oberlin college. Miles influenced me because he would practice taking jump shots with me and he would teach me some new moves that I could use when I play in games for Rec league. Lastly Miles taught me some trust by telling me to trust my teammates and my friends when there was an issue.

The director of the camp Brent Weiss also influenced me by telling me I was a leader and that I was a great kid. Brent also was telling my parents that I care about others and that I can tell when someone is upset but always find a way to cheer them up or make them laugh. Brent has influenced me a lot because he wants me the best for me.

The experience I had when I was a camper was unforgettable because I made a lot of memories. During my time as a camper I made a bunch of friendships that can possibly be friendships that last a lifetime.

When I was in 7th grade I had the honor of winning the Iverbian award in 2014 which is the camper of the year. Before I won the Iverbian I told my parents that some day I will end up becoming the Iverbian. When the director of the camp started his speech I was clueless. When my name got called the director of the camp said “Your 2014 Iverbian award goes to Cole McNeill”, I ran up the front of the gym and everyone was chanting ‘Cole,Cole,Cole, Cole ,Cole” I ran down the line that the counselors were in and gave them all high fives. When I finished running down the high five line Marc the director of the camp handed me a Iverbe backpack and then Brent Weiss embraced me and he got emotional when he told a story about how a couples day before the Iverbian awards where announced I told him that my friend Josh Gelfond should win.

Fast forward two years later I became a CIT. My first summer as a cit the director was hard on me at first but over the time I became better. My second summer as a Cit I worked all 8 weeks of camp and the kids that I was a cit for loved me and I started making connections with the kids and they looked up to me. My second summer has a cit I made a lot of friends and I made a good impression on the director because he say me working hard. My last summer as a cit was last summer and I worked extremely hard. I also got a recommendation from a Counselor named Kwan to be his co counselors over the summer. Most recently during the second week of spring break I

became a counselor for 3rd grade and all the years of being cit payed off. As a counselor I look forward to making connections with the kids I am a counselor for and I look forward to being kids role model and the person they look up to.The thing that I was extremely excited for was getting my first pay check and when I got it I was so eager to look at it. Lastly since I did such a good job during the second week of spring break I will be an assistant counselor this summer and to start my journey as a counselor and I will be going to a counselor training on June 3rd.