“It’s amazing how much you need and respect the little things in life. Music, for example. Being at camp for two weeks with little to no music makes you appreciate it even more. The only music we get here is in the bus on the way to canoeing and at the camp dance. I grow fond of country music, any music really, that is played for us because it has such a big impact in my life.

“Showers are another thing, not even long showers in scorching water but a quick, four-minute shower in lukewarm water in a dingy shower stall is magical. It makes you feel clean, especially when you only shower two to three times a week.

“Finally, the most important thing you find at camp is true friendship and the meaning of family. A family isn’t always the people who you live with fifty weeks out of the year. Sometimes, it’s the group of people you spend two weeks with. When you are always with a group of people, you grow close, they know what is going on in your life. Judgements happen quickly at camp, and it’s hard to change a lot of the time. But they DO change, you realize the girls you think are cliquey and are going to be awful are the best people in the world! And the counselors change your life.

“Counselors are those few guiding figures who change the way you see the world. You strive to impress them. And when you come across one counselor that is like you in every way, shape and form, you look up to them. A counselor, for the two weeks, is the guiding figure who supports you in everything. Without these people, camp wouldn’t be the same. They help you struggle through the thick and thin. They support you when you need it most. But most importantly, they praise you for being yourself. It changes who you are as a person.

“I thank camp for so many things, because without it, I wouldn’t be the individual I am today. in the end, we all need to respect the little things, and not let judgement prevent us from the friendships that’ll last a lifetime. People usually need a push to realize this, and that’s what camp has done for me.”

-One of my awesome CITs, 2013

To all Camp Jackson staff, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. You have bled and loved and laughed and cried to succeed in the greatest of all tasks: changing lives forever. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Love,

Laura