Suspense is thickening in the air as all staff gather on the field to welcome the Starlight campers for the summer of 2017. Counselors have been waiting over a week, some two, passing the time with an extensive orientation program that amps up their excitement even more. Pre-Camp workers have been eagerly waiting a month and have passed the time through camp preparation, ensuring Starlight is the most beautiful it can be for their campers. Not to mention that many staff members have been patiently waiting years for the opportunity to inspire and encourage a community of campers, a thrill that all new counselors experience for the first time and an adrenaline rush that all returning counselors are addicted to. All these seconds, hours, days and years have accumulated into this single moment and the electric anticipation is more than tangible, you can reach your hand out into the air and feel how highly charged the atmosphere of camp is on the very tips of your fingers. The buses roll through the gates, park in the untouched grass and the horns on the buses ring out to affirm that the campers are finally here.
The campers burst out of the bus doors and the counselors explode in cheers and celebrating the arrival at their summer home. They will spend the rest of summer sharing stories, eating s’mores, singing classic traditional camp songs and laughing beside at the end of each evening activity. It is a moment that sparkles in your memory when you will think back to this day 1 year or 10 from now. The way the campers sprint to say hello to their old counselors or friends from camp is of the purest joy–it’s all in their wide genuine smiles and an honor to see the world in their eyes.
Everything has led up to this moment, this experience, this family.
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