Beginning around 2:30 pm across the Sarah Lawrence campus, you're likely to hear the faint sound of a whistle coming from the archery range. This whistle accompanies each line command that archers are given, for example: "Archers to the line!" "Line ready?" "Fire!" and "Retrieve your arrows!" The other sound you're bound to hear is raucous cheering as students support one another when they shoot a bullseye, which has already happened quite a few times this summer.
In our Archery Elective, both new and seasoned archers join forces and develop their archery skills together, with a focus on proper stance and release techniques as well as an emphasis on navigating the range safely. After two days of practice, students spend their last elective day battling it out in an archery tournament, where they compete to see who can pop the most balloons. The prize? A coveted archery pin to be worn proudly on the winner's lanyard for the remainder of the summer.
Lily, Zoe, Max, and Makeda — four of our current archers, pictured above — took a break from shooting bullseyes to talk about what they've been loving about their time spent at the archery range.
What are you up to right now?
Max: Shooting a bow!
Lily: We're at the archery range! We're standing in lines and shooting arrows, and it's a lot of fun.
Makeda: We're shooting targets, and we're practicing for our competition tomorrow.
What did you do on your first day yesterday?
Max: The first day was more of a teaching day.
Lily: We learned about safety, which I think is really important. Then, we shot some arrows individually so our instructor, Mike, could see what our skills were like. And then we got to shoot a little bit, and today we've gotten to shoot the whole time, and that's been really fun.
Is this your first time picking up a bow and arrow?
Makeda: No — I did it at EXPLO before, and I do it at a range with my dad.
Lily: I've done archery at another camp, but I have to say I really like the system here.
Zoe: I've done it at a couple of camps before, but I've never really done it at a range or anything like that.
Makeda: I'm just not very good at it...
Didn't you just get a bullseye?!
Zoe: She's really good — her arrows are so fast! They're the fastest here!
Is archery harder than you initially expected, or has it come to you pretty easily?
Max: There's definitely a learning curve, but after that, it gets fun.
Lily: I think it's a bit harder than I expected. A lot of it is mental, and I psych myself out because I want to do well, so I just have to remember to breathe, and relax, and not worry about how I'm comparing to other people.
Would you recommend this elective to other students?
Max: Yes — I've definitely enjoyed it, and I'd want to do it again.
Makeda: I'd recommend this class — it's just fun! You get to have fun and shoot targets!
Zoe: And everyone on this team is super friendly. They cheer you on whenever you get close to the bullseye.
Makeda: This is a really fun group.
Lily: I would definitely recommend it — I feel just like Katniss Everdeen every day!
Victoria Lyons