Throughout my high school years, I participated in an organization called “younglife.” For those of you who didn’t have it around you in high school, it’s a Christian program that is directed toward high schoolers and sometimes middle schoolers. It is an incredibly unique organization with lots of funny quirks that you would only know about if you participated in it. Between club, camp, campaigners and of course fall weekends, I spent a lot of my high school days with my leaders and the best friends I made through younglife.

1. You know about the big cookie: It is a warm and gooey huge cookie that somehow is perfectly cooked and uncooked to make a beautiful masterpiece. It is completely covered in every type of ice cream you could ever want. And it is your favorite thing to try to recreate with your friends after camp. Yet you could never get it perfect like Rockbridge did.

2. You know how to square dance: Anytime an old folk-country song comes on you resist the urge to break out the pair of overalls you have and start going at it. Not only can you square dance, you want to square dance. Out of the context of country night it is a weird skill to have, but kind of your favorite skill.

3. The songs sweet home Alabama and Lean on me have a special meaning to you: You know all the special additions to these songs because you screamed them with your friends for three years in a row.

4. Trying to explain what younglife is: “It’s uh this organization for high schoolers but not through the high school or a church and it’s actually fun…” Trying to explain to your parents what younglife is was a constant struggle.

5. Milling: Your favorite and least favorite mixer at a club. Your first time you absolutely hate it. All you are doing is running into a bunch of strangers. But after awhile of getting to know people you are ramming into your best friends trying to take them out.

6. Themes: For some reason you always had strange clothing on. Either a parka or a purple sweat suit there was absolutely no need for these weird clothes. It seemed like at any younglife event people just decided to pull out the weirdest clothes out of their closet and you did too. It was weird, but you wore strange clothes anyway, and you loved it.

7. Club skits: if your leaders were as funny as mine were you loved the weekly skits. Even if it was your 5^th time seeing it, it just got funnier and funnier with time.

8. You made great memories: the experiences you went through with these people you will cherish for a lifetime. The good, the bad, the ugly and even the weird. These people helped you grow into the person you are today and you are forever grateful.