Written by Elizabeth E.
Good Evening…
For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Elizabeth E. and I am an upper senior. Thank you for allowing me to come up to talk about the theme of the summer, appreciation, tonight. I would like to start out by saying that 2 of my biggest role models in my life are my older sisters. One is a counselor here this summer. There is 7 year age gap between my oldest sister Sarah and I. So, when I was a lower junior, Sarah was an upper senior. I distinctly remember a time after my lower junior summer when my sister and I were talking about camp and how much we missed it. Sarah turned, looked at me and said, “Elizabeth, you have so many summer left there as a camper. I would do anything to be a junior again and have 8 more summers left at camp. Appreciate it.” Many leagues games, divisional shows, sing-a-longs, and Friday night services later I am now where she once was as an upper senior. I too would do anything to be a lower junior again with so much time as camper left ahead of me. But I would like to think that I took her advice, that I truly appreciated every moment spent here. I now know the importance of stepping back and appreciating every stunning sunset over the lake, every memory made and every one of the 35 girls in my division that I now call family but were once strangers when I was a junior. I don’t know what I would do without them. It’s important to take notice to how much Starlight helps us grow and mature. To appreciate that camp changes us all for the better.
I am now going to give you all the same advice that my sister once gave me. Though you don’t need to be a junior to hear it. Whether you have many years left here or just a few weeks, appreciate every moment spent here. Appreciate the laughs, the smiles and especially all of the people that make this place so amazing. The friendships you make with these people, they will last much longer than the summers spent here. I truly believe that Starlight is a special and one of kind place and that is something to be appreciated.
I, for one, appreciate the opportunity for being asked to speak in front of you all this evening. Thank you again and have a great Friday night. Thank you.
Tags: America's finest summer camps, American summer camps, Benefits of Summer Camp, camp activities, Camp Starlight, sleepaway camp, summer camp, summer camp activities, summer camp programs
