Sleep-away camp was one of the best experiences of every pubescent teen's young life. We go through the school year just living to see our camp friends again and come back with a ton of new stories to tell your home friends.
Lots of strange experiences happen in camp, and each of them help you grow into the well-rounded, knowledgeable young adult that you are today!
1. How to make deviled eggs…the camp way.
You knew how to be creatively ratchet before ratchet was even a word! Ingredients for deviled eggs: two hard boiled egg yolks, milk, salt and pepper. Mix all of the those ingredients in a cup and put your creation into the egg whites and voilá, you have deviled eggs!
2. Cup o' noodles and mac 'n' cheese are life.
If the food in the mess hall didn't agree with you, you would just wait to heat up the hot pot and make a cup of noodles or Easy Mac. Parties would be planned just to eat thousands of milligrams of sodium!
3. The world behind the sports shack.
Only the prettiest girl—or the girls with boyfriends—would be asked to go to the magical land behind the sports shack. Shenanigans of all types would go on behind there. Not everyone had the chance to go there. Some, like me, would never see behind that shed due to pubescent ugliness, while others never had an awkward phase and saw the back of the sports shack regularly. Either way, it was what marked that you had become a women...if you know what I mean.
4. How do you make out?
Everyone had older friends that were more experienced in the art of romance and attraction. Someone had to teach you how to make out! How fascinating was it for little 14-year-old me to observe one of her cabin mates sticking her tongue out and wiggling it around. The expert 15-year-old would demonstrate how to move your lips in junction with your tongue. At the same time, she reminded us, that you have to make sure to breathe! It seemed really hard. Attracting the right mate is hard in pubescence... I could really relate to Tina Belcher.
5. Awkward first boyfriends.
Note: If either of you are reading this, don't be mad, it is only for comedic value. Hit me up sometime. Throughout my years at camp, I had two boyfriends. I never really cared much for kissing and romantic relationships due to the amount of effort I felt I had to put forth in the process. The first boyfriend, I dated for a week because I was jealous that one of my friends got to date him the week before. It was my turn, and during that week, I figured out why they didn't work out in the first place. The second boyfriend was one of the first guys I grew to love, however, people change: a Bar Mitzvah happens, you grow boobs. It didn't end well, and thus, I became incredibly single for the next four years after that.
6. Camp theatre productions are a big thing.
I had the pleasure of earning some really fun roles in a few camp shows. I wasn't as trained and perfected as I am now, but I still got compliments and popularity, even if my Lucy in You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown was really out of key. All of the videos are on YouTube, so everyone can relive my theatrical embarrassments, but that's okay because my regular YouTube is poppin'!
7. Making friendship bracelets.
Everyone had a box of string so we could make friendship bracelets. Some people used to learn some really hard stitches. I made a 22 string candy striped bracelet for my dad! I was so proud of it, however, he never wore it... Cue my resentment.
8. Meeting that one counselor that will make or break your experience.
My camp buddies and I have had some pretty amazing counselors that we love and still occasionally talk to today. We also had some not-so-nice counselors that we are still salty about having to endure. Camp counselors are super-important to the camp experience; they guide us through issues from boy advice to embarrassing things that coincide with puberty. They have been through it all and are far beyond the normal 15-year-old intelligence. The job of a counselor is difficult because you know that whatever example you set during the primary and secondary school years of a teens life can and will scar them the most for the rest of their life. Message to mean counselors that I have dealt with: maybe you should have reassessed your summer employment options.
9. Experimenting with your appearance and trying to impress clueless boys.
We were all trying to attract our perfect, nerdy, Jewish boyfriend during the camp days. We tried to change our make-up, hike up our skirts and pull down our necklines. Little did we know that most boys don't really care about that type of stuff. If you were skinny and had no personality, then of course you were prime girlfriend material! If you were pretty and weird, then you didn't have to try that hard, all you had to do was just keep your mouth shut. That was the part of my life when I felt that hunting for significant others was just not worth it. I still feel the same way about that to this day. "Boys are stupid," was probably one of the greatest lessons that I had ever learned, thanks to camp.
10. Shabbat dinner was always the best dinner.
Chicken soup, grape juice and challah.... I've said enough!
11. The only reason you wanted to go on an over-nighter was for the roasted marshmallows.
Well, yeah, roasted marshmallows are awesome... The fear of getting rabies from a raccoon, on the other hand, is not.
12. That time you pulled a prank on the boys cabin.
Yes, we did! An awesome unit advisor helped, we got permission from the executive supervisor, and it was a success. *High five!*
13. Kicking butt … or embarrassing yourself in a talent show.
I had an awesome talent show experience with one of my best friends! Everyone cheered, and we crumped like masters! Other people weren't so good. It seemed like crappy vocal acts were all the rage back in the day ... or were they?
14. Meeting your best friends for life.
I still talk to the majority of the wonderful camp friends I made over the five years I was a camper. They were, and still are, some of the best friends I have ever had in my entire life. I would do it all over again if I could ... minus my awkwardly ugly phase and my sheltered personality.
