Every child at some point or another should go to a camp. Maybe it's an all-inclusive camp, or one targeted to a specific type of child; either way every child should attend an overnight camp.
Camp can be scary for young kids and for their parents, but it's probably one of the most valuable experiences in childhood. Why? Because you get to be alone for the first time, you get to be you without your parents correcting you, you get to be who ever you want to be to these people, you get to meet all of these other kiddos who you wouldn't have crossed paths with if it weren't for your parents packing your bags for the week and sending you off.
The friendships you make at camp somehow always end up being the strongest. Maybe it's the fact that you all slept in those sad excuses for bed, choked down camp food and pretended to be OK with the painfully early mornings and busy showers. Or maybe it's because you shared a safe place. Most camp friends don't talk year round about how much they can't wait to see each other again or tell each other every detail of every day. Most camp friends send you I miss you text once a month or so, that way you can catch up and then spend however long you're at camp, completely attached to your hip. Camp friends are more siblings than friends. They know the best version of you, because no one is trying to impress anyone at 6:30 wake-up call for breakfast.
Camp lets you explore yourself more than ever. Your parents aren't there to look at you strangely when you say purples your favorite color even though it's always been red. (That's a pretty big deal at 8-years-old). You can tell all of your stories and for the first time be independent. You pick your clothes, which leads to fashion disasters to look back on years down the road when you're probably still calling this place home. You eat as much or as little as you want, and on those planned meal times you're gonna be eating a lot.
Camp as a kid is important, but camp as a teenager is vital. The same safe place you once explored you're identity in, became your safe haven to run away to. The camp counselors who used to seem so old now feel like friends, and you memorize every detail of every bonfire because you know you'll think of this all year until it comes again. You trust those camp friends like family and you always have a love hate relationship with camp food and your water bottle which you ALWAYS HAVE TO CARRY.
Camp has a funny way of helping you grow up. You never realize it but one day you're not the 8-year-old with the bag that your mom packed with an outfit for every day, but you're a 17-year-old on your last year before you're a counselor, trying to remember how everything looks as if it's the last thing you'll ever see. Camp makes you you, it gives you that smile and it gives you time to grow into being you. So whichever camp captured your heart, I hope you make it your home.
