In 2006, at the age of 9, me, a scrawny girl with a blonde, Dora the explorer haircut got on a coach bus. I got on the bus holding back tears alongside my snacks composed of m&ms and goldfish for the 4-hour ride across New York. I was headed to Camp Schodack, a sleep away camp.
Somehow, 10 years latter, I was still there. Now a foot taller, I was a counselor and group leader in charge of children like who I use to be.
Camp has always been a family affair for my family. There is a total of 46 years that have went into having a Lief walk the grounds of Camp Schodack on a summer day. Some may joke, I included, that those who go to sleepaway camp have parents who don’t love them. But what I have learned is that those parents who send their child to sleepaway camp love them enough to give their child the opportunity to grow on their own. Be who they were meant to be by exposing them to the real world where you don’t always have mommy and daddy picking out your outfit for the day for you.
In the span off 10 years, 11 summers, I have become an entire new person. Once I finally got adapted to sleep away camp, and the wonders it entails, there was no question in returning. I always saw myself having at least three years on staff, and maybe, but probably a fourth. But without doubt being able to spend a decade in a place where are your worries go to die.
In life though, you have to prepare. College is a steppingstone towards the real world, and for the real world employers would probably like to see more on a resume than camp counselor. Even though that is a hard sentence to acknowledge, it is true. In wanting to go into the TV entertainment field, fear is what helps to fuel me into going out of my comfort zone to get my mark on the business. As hard as it was, in the fall, and finally accepted it in the winter, I came to the realization that it may be my time to end my camp career. I wasn't fully happy, but I knew it was an inevitable truth of every camper; some day you have to say goodbye to your summer home.
I love camp, and always will. There is denying it. In life though, you have to make many goodbyes. It was painful but I did, and I set Camp Schodack free, letting it go.
In the midst of applying to tens of internships and interviewing, my mind was not on camp. I would still keep tabs on those returning and the gossip, but I removed myself from that world. the day after going in for an internship interview, as faith would have it, it was meant to be. It (camp) came back. I was not expecting it, but it came in the most perfect opportunity. After a day of thinking, I accepted it. And just like that I am returning back to Camp Schodack.
Crazy things happen when you may not be expecting it. But most of all, if you really love something it may be meant to be. Life just has a funny way of showing it.
