This post is a re-share from The Odyssey Online.
Everyone who went to camp is part of a cult; a group united by spirit and tradition that cannot be explained or understood. It does not make sense, and every summer, you come home a little weirder than when you left.
Although camp is a difficult place to explain, it is an easy place to be, and after a decade of abnormal adventures as a camper and a counselor, I’ve grown to realize that I truly would be a different person without it.
During my time as a camper, I learned everything. I learned how to play soccer, how to make my bed, and every other simple task a kid should know. I learned to have fun without television and video games, to be persistent, and never to give up no matter how many basketball shots it takes to win a game of Knockout.
I learned how to be away from home, to include everyone in any activity, and how to love people who aren’t family. After reflecting on my years at camp, however, I realize I learned more during my two years as a counselor than during my eight years as a camper.
During my first year of college, I had all the freedom in the world, and going from college to camp was a huge wake up call for me. I went from a lifestyle where I could sleep in and plan my day to a world where I was a slave to time—and children. I had to wake up at precisely 7:55am each morning and make sure each child was cleaning, eating, and participating in activities with a smile on her face, and mine.
I learned to put others first, and to enjoy doing so; I learned to distinguish between a sick child and a child pretending to be sick so she doesn’t have to play tennis in ninety-degree weather; I learned that everything is not always going to go my way, and I learned to be responsible for something bigger than myself.
The most important things I learned were things I learned as a camper, but were so much more meaningful as a counselor. I learned that tradition is a powerful thing that can bring people together unlike anything else, that people from all over the world are really not different from us at all, and that everything is better when you do not worry about image or appearance. It’s okay to wrestle in Jell-O, and go on scavenger hunts, and stand on chairs and dance during breakfast, and play football in a tutu, and cry when you lose color war; in this fantasy world, life is perfectly structured yet totally careless, and nothing outside those grounds matters or even exists.
As a camper, I learned a lot of important life skills, but as a counselor I learned a lot about myself.
