When I was eight years old, my parents kissed me goodbye and handed me over to the flight attendant as I got on the plane alone to fly to summer camp. Four weeks later, I returned home; hair knotted, dirt caked on my legs, mosquito bites covering my entire body, yet I was glowing. I immediately told my parents that I would be returning back to camp next summer, but this time it wouldn't be for just four weeks. I would be going for the entire summer, all eight weeks.

Camp consumed my entire childhood. When I wasn't physically at camp, I was dreaming about it. Summer camp changed my life. It taught me how to be independent, to push my comfort zone, and to appreciate the goodness of life. But what I really owe to summer camp is that it prepared me for college.

Growing up in the California sun, people couldn't understand why I ever wanted to leave it and even worse why I was choosing to go to school in, of all places, Wisconsin. But just like when I was the only one of my friends who went to sleep away camp, I didn't let anyone else's opinion stop me. After all, while I was waterskiing on the lake, making s'mores, and backpacking through the Pacific Northwest, they were sitting at home. Camp taught me to be different. So I am. I left home to go to school in Wisconsin and haven't regretted it for a moment since.

Camp taught me how to go out of my way to make new friends and to be open minded when meeting people, which is crucial as a freshman in college. It taught me how to respect my personal space and others, because after living with eight other girls the whole summer, sharing a room with one person is practically nothing. If nothing else, camp taught me simple hygiene, like how you have to brush your teeth every morning and night, and shower at least once every three days. (Disclaimer: now that I am a college student and not an eight-year-old child, I shower at least once a day.)

Plus, dorm bathrooms don't phase me at all. I've been on camping trips where nature is the only bathroom that exists. I know how to make my bed, do my own laundry, and dress myself according to the weather (most of the time) because of camp. I also have the best playlists in the world, know the popular lingo from all sides of the United States, and know how to cook my own food (even if it sometimes turns out kind of funky).

Most importantly, camp taught me that it's perfectly fine to leave home and create my own experiences. I don't need to talk to my family every day to know that they're alright, and because I'm used to being away from home, the time that I spend with them is even more special. Camp gave me the freedom to always make my own decisions and that has empowered me to make many of my life choices I have made to this day.

Now when my parents drop me off at the airport and kiss me goodbye and I get on the plane alone to come back to school, it's a little easier than it was when I was eight years old; and I can thank camp for that, and so much more.