San Diego Vaca - day 6: Speaking at CYT camp.

When we were out in San Diego, Michael was commissioned to go and speak at a Jr. High camp for CYT. CYT is a youth theatre program that Michael did when he was in high school, and he will tell you how much it changed his life, and his performance career. It really shaped him, and made him the person he is today. Anytime he can give back, he loves to.

So we made our trek up to Pine Valley Bible Camp for a night (stopping first for some real mexican food. We were trying to get our fill whenever we could before heading back to tex mex territory!) which is about an hour drive east of San Diego. And it just so happened that Beka saw three of her old Jr. High students from San Diego who were all grown up and now working at the camp! It was a fun time for all to see each other.  It made Team Oakley feel old (because we all know how grey we are getting :) And it was very good to see that her old students were still going down a good path. And they were so big now!!!

 When we arrived Beka was taken at how pretty everything was. Michael had been to the camp many times as a child in church, but it was Beka's first time, and she fell in love. It was a very beautiful camp, with many excited students to hear from a very well talked up Michael Oakley.

We arrived and put our things in our cabin for the night, then headed on up to where the kids were. Michael gave an hour stomp master class about rhythm and how anything can be made into music if you understand it. The kids loved it! Then he spoke to them for about an hour about what it was like performing in Boston and Las Vegas, and still holding true to who he is, and his beliefs and values. He let them know that anything is attainable, as long as you know who you are, and what you believe. They loved every second of it. One boy came up to him afterwards and said "not joking, like no lie, but I barely even know you, and you are my second favorite person ever!" It was very sweet to see all these young students, some of which Michael had directed in the past, look up to him so much, and hang off his every word. He even ran into some old acting buddies that he did not know were going to be up there as counselors and music leaders. There was much "remember the good ole days" talk buzzing around. It was fun for Beka to hear stories and jokes about Michael that she had never heard before. She always finds out something new about him, somehow, even after knowing him for many years. That made her very happy.

After speaking, we had dinner, and after dinner we played some fun night camp games, then helped with some group discussions and bible studies with the students. The next morning we ate breakfast with them, listened to one other speaker, then we headed home. It was a quick speaking engagement, but it was very fulfilling for Michael, for Beka, and for all the students and even leadership that Michael could speak to.

We very much enjoyed our time there, and all the encouragement we received from seeing kids that we had both invested time and love into, who were doing so well filled our hearts very full of love.

Thanks for sharing this fun adventure with us!

Until the next one!

Team Oakley.