By: Colby Harris - Grit Club Member, Grit University Intern, & Grit Camp Counselor
My name is Colby Harris and I am a 2020 Grit University Intern. This summer I am working to build myself mentally and physically while also learning how to properly start and grow a business from the ground up. Although Covid-19 has shaken the world, we are blessed to have been able to move forward on our summer business, Grit Camp. Grit Camp is a sports camp for kids ranging from kindergarten through eighth grade. We aim to instill the core values and life lessons that lie beneath the surface in sports while also progressing the kids game play and overall athleticism. When I am not at camp, I am usually advertising for the camp or brainstorming ways we can improve it. I am living at Grit Headquarters Sunday- Friday, leaving Friday afternoon once we wrap up camp and square away our week. At that time I leave and go back home to Fernandina Beach for the weekend. Being on such an intense schedule and having to abide by many different new lifestyle changes I have found one thing to stand out the most: success takes SACRIFICE!
Sacrifice is by definition an act of surrendering a possession as an offering to a divine or supernatural figure. For me that supernatural figure is happiness and financial freedom and I believe that Grit University is an amazing path to take to reach that. It was November 2019 when I was first offered the internship and I did not understand how many sacrifices I would have to make to move forward and progress myself in all aspects of life while on this new journey.
At 17 years old, technically not even a high school graduate yet, I left my house to live at Grit HQ. Leaving my mom, my brothers and sister, my own home, that was a sacrifice I had never understood would be so difficult. It wasn’t until week 3 that I truly realized how hard it was to be working 40-50 hours a week and then only have a measly 36 hours or so to be back at home every week. Having to tell friends I can’t see them because I want to make time for my family, that has been a huge sacrifice. Telling my friends I have to go to bed at 8:30 pm because I know I will have to be up bright and early at 5:30 am the following day, that is a huge sacrifice. Having to forget about all my own personal hobbies and fully dedicate myself to work has been a huge sacrifice. The point of my sacrifice though is deeply rooted in the idea of what I sacrifice for them and myself now, I will gain back in many more values and mental strength later.
From the 6 am workouts to the hours and hours dedicated to running our business, I have learned that to achieve anything in life you will have to make sacrifices- but that is not a bad thing. Believe it or not that is why Grit University has been the best thing to ever happen to me. The most beautiful thing to me is now being able to see all the blood, sweat, and tears I have poured into my experience paying off. I am seeing immense change and progression not only physically and financially, but mentally I have never felt more capable of greatness. I value the time I do get with my family, I laugh harder when I can be with my friends, and I cherish my time doing things I love more than I ever have. To me that's what life is all about. Work your hardest and become whoever you dream to be and while doing so, enjoy it, cherish it, laugh about it, and even cry about it. I was always chasing my destination of success but thus far in my summer the main thing I have learned to live by is that it's all about the journey, never the destination, but to get where I want to go it's going to take sacrifice, a lot of it, and that’s okay! Pictures below: top - picture from Senior Prom that was rescheduled to last night. Colby is walking with his girlfriend Katelin (who will be playing Division 1 golf next year in college) bottom - picture from Grit Camp last week where Colby and Dylan ran a camp with 62 campers and 14 counselors (in only their 3rd week of running the camp!)
