One Moment- Why I Go To Camp

I'm back and as I say every year, I've just had the best three weeks of my life! Even though my camp experience was slightly eclipsed by the fact that I had just gotten home from Europe, the best trip I've ever been on; I still had the best time. I got a chance to be in Disney on my own with people whom I treat like family and then got to spend 2 more weeks living with them full time in one of my favorite places ever.  I honestly couldn't have asked for a better camp experience. I found my way on my own a little bit and strengthened bonds with friends that I didn't know could be any stronger! I  have loved going fo camp for the past eight summers of my life, and felt as though it needed a small tribute over here on the blog in the real world. So here we go!

For those of you who have never been to camp or went and didn't like it, you might be wondering why I choose to give up all connection to the outside world for three weeks just to hang out with friends that I could quite easily see here at home. It's a very hard thing to articulate but the easiest way I've found to explain it is by centering it around one moment. 

High school is hard. Between sports, student government, college, youth groups, friend groups, school, parents, teachers, grades, etc. I, and many others such as myself, feel as though I am being pulled in eighteen-hundred different directions at once. No matter how down-time I get (not a whole lot,) when I'm not focused on one thing, you better be sure that I'm thinking about another. Dreams are riddled with fears of failing or college rejection, friends text about which girl deserves the top spot in the boat, there is no break until school ends. So for me, camp has evolved from just a place of growth and change, to a safe place to escape the intense responsibility that I am constantly dealing with at home. 

I go to camp for that one single solitary moment. That second of my life that I can be four years old again and spin around in a circle as fast as I can while laughing at the top of my lungs, trying my best not to fall over. I go to camp because I only have to stress about why there are only green apples instead of red; or whether we're going to the pool or the lake that day. Camp is a safe place where I can grow into myself and figure out who I want to be without any pressure from anyone. Camp is home, which is why I go back summer after summer. 

xx