An overnight summer camp is a magical experience that everyone must have, at least once in their lifetime. Here’s why.
Driving up the old familiar dirt road (path) that lead to 242 Willey Pond Road. As I drive past the horse pasture and little red barn, through the red gates, past the dining hall and flagpole, and finally into the grassy sports field - I know I’m home. I sit in my car for a few minutes, just to take the moment in. Here I am, again. Looking up at the wood cabins that line the field with their creaky screen doors and freshly painted red coat. I think about all the sensations that I know I will feel when I step out of my car. The lake breeze, blowing the summer sweat of my brow. The soggy, damp ground below my feet. And, most importantly, the sounds of laughter from my closest friends.
It doesn’t matter what my school year had been like. Coming to camp meant leaving it all behind. No mean girls, no nagging parents, no teachers, no work. Just me. Me surrounded in the Camp Foss bubble, that separates us all from reality. Today, whenever I feel overwhelmed and frustrated, the things that I crave doing most is jumping into the water at Willey Pond or going on a trail ride with one of the most famous camp horses, Twizzle. Never in my life will I feel more comfortable or safe than I feel at summer camp.
As I grew up, I went from camper to counselor - because I couldn’t stop going back. Camp is not just a place. It’s who I am. It’s what taught me responsibility and independence. It's what taught me how to be myself. Camp gave me some of the most amazing role models, along with the best of friends.
Day camp is NOTHING like an overnight camp, though, and here’s why. When you live with 12 other people and have to learn how to sleep, eat, awkwardly change clothes, and do just about everything with them, you become vulnerable with them. It is uncomfortable at first, but in the end it creates the strongest bond. From waking up every morning, to two rights of the bell. to ending every night with an end-of-the-day camp tradition - if you have never been to summer camp, you haven’t lived yet.
All people love the summer for different reasons. But summer to me means Camp Foss, and that’s my reason.
