Mud, M&Ms, and Meaning: My Trip To YETI

This article was originally published in our Summer 2026 Bleeding Times Magazine. See the entire magazine by clicking here.

Author: Matthew Chavez

The Youth Effectively Transitioning to Independence (YETI) Conference is held each year outside of Portland, Oregon by the Pacific Northwest Bleeding Disorders (PNWBD) to help bleeding disorder chapter staff and youth leaders from around the country plan and enhance their youth and teen programming.

Going into the trip to YETI, I didn’t really know what to expect. I knew the basics, like where I was going and who I am going with, but it turned out to be so much more than what I was expecting.

One thing that stood out was the weather and environment. It wasn’t always raining, but when it did, it made the ground muddy. A lot of the time, we had to walk through it, and the mud stuck to our shoes, making everything feel messy and uncomfortable. At first, it was annoying, having to clean up every time I entered somewhere. But after a while, it just became part of the experience. It made everything feel more natural and real—like we were staying in a rainforest. We just had to deal with whatever came our way.

One of the most memorable parts of YETI for me was an event called Disco Bingo Night. At first, it sounded random and not that interesting, but it ended up being one of the funniest moments. Instead of normal bingo, we used M&Ms, which were loud and whenever certain numbers were called, we had to do different actions, which made everything chaotic. People were laughing, messing up, and just not taking it seriously at all. It turned something simple into something fun and unpredictable.

Another part of the trip was a runway activity. We had to create outfits based on random themes using whatever items we had. It was kind of stressful at first because we didn’t have a lot of materials to work with or a whole bunch of time to plan, but that’s what made it interesting. People had to get creative, and some outfits turned out to be shockingly good. When everyone walked the runway, it wasn’t about being perfect, it was mostly about confidence and going along with it.

The cooking challenge was probably the most difficult activity. We had limited supplies and had to figure out how to make something decent without much to work with, much like the runway. It forced everyone to think collectively and work together, instead of doing things individually. At times it was frustrating, but it also made the end result feel more rewarding. Even if the food wasn’t perfect, the process of figuring it out mattered more.

Looking back, the trip wasn’t really about one big moment. It was more about all the small things that happened. Even the messy parts like the mud and the times when things didn’t go right. In the beginning, I thought it was just going to be a whole lot of talking, but it turned out to be something memorable. It made me realize that not everything had to go perfectly for it to still be a good experience, rather sometimes the imperfect parts are what made it stand out the most.