My hands were shaking as I turned onto the dirt roads outside of Meridian Texas. My hands always shake because I'm always anxious and full of unhealthy amounts of caffeine, but today it was different. I was drawing closer and closer to a place called Camp John Marc, where I would spend the next week as a counselor for MDA summer camp. I'd be living in a cabin for a week with three other counselors and six young kids, all of whom had some sort of muscular dystrophy and needed some form of assistance; some only needed help getting out of bed, others needed help with everything from showering to eating to getting dressed. As a counselor, I would help them through their daily activities, which included everything from arts and crafts to fishing to zip-lining. And quite frankly, as I pulled up to the gate in front of Camp John Marc, I was terrified. I felt overwhelmed, under-qualified, and out of place. I was a 20-year-old business major in a group of volunteers that consisted of firefighters, physical therapists, nurses, and physical therapy students.

From Katie Gosa, a fellow counselor at camp and a great friend:

I was 40 minutes late arriving to camp. I was freaking out on the way there- Google maps stopped working. My co-dependence on technology was so severe I wasn't entirely confident navigating my way there with only the help of directions from an email to guide me. The entire way was an anxiety field trip of everything that could go wrong. I was all too aware of my shortcomings. Mental images of dropping one of the campers as I was trying to transport them kept shooting through my head. I kept picturing myself failing to keep the campers entertained, and somehow ruining their entire camp experience.

3 p.m. on a hot, Sunday afternoon. That is the day and time that I finally quit being so incredibly worried about myself and my own trivial problems and realized that I was a part of something much larger than myself. That is the day and time that the campers began to arrive. As they made their way, one by one, through the line of cheering counselors that lead to the door, their sense of joy and excitement breathed new life into Camp John Marc, and in a way, breathed new life into me. Every day that week, something new amazed me. How the campers were always helping each other out, their looks of happiness as they did the different activities (especially the zip-line), the incredible sense of community that all the volunteers of MDA and Camp John Marc created, it all came together and created an amazing atmosphere. I honestly felt like I was at home.

From Katie:

It took me a few days to settle in at camp. Greeting the kids was awesome- everyone showed up with big smiles and excitement clear in their faces. Talking to them was surprisingly easier than I expected- ask them about their favorite t.v. characters and they'll talk for ages. While the first day went better than I expected, I was still nervous about the whole camp experience. Then Monday arrived. It was my 20th birthday, and I really didn't expect anyone to notice. Throughout the day, however, I kept being approached by random counselors and campers wishing me a happy birthday. We normally get about 30-minute break every day. I went to go take mine and was surprised with a cake pop and a hand-drawn birthday card from Reid. I came back to the cabin to find my girls breaking out into their rendition of Happy Birthday. That night I fell asleep with my heart filled to the brim with love.

Have you ever seen a spider blowing in the wind? Seemingly out of control, just floating wherever the summer breeze takes it. That's how Katie and I felt on our way to camp, and I think it's safe to say that we weren't the only ones. Many of the kids who showed up had never been to camp before and were just as nervous and scared, if not more, as we were. However, if you look closer at the spider, you'll see that it isn't just floating about aimlessly. It's clinging onto a web. It's anchored. Without the web, the spider would get nowhere. And without the spider, the web is useless. MDA has created a beautiful web. A community where these kids can feel at home, a place where they can feel anchored, safe, to do things they never thought was possible for them. Furthermore, in doing so, they brought a lot of people together- campers, counselors, and the Camp John Marc staff- and they helped show us all what it is like to be a part of something bigger than ourselves. They showed us what it's like to be a part of an amazing community, to create our own little web for each other, and, as one of the campers who graduated from camp this year said, "MDA taught us all that by believing in each other and working together, we can all be truly mighty people."

Now I had spent the previous weeks being thanked by MDA for volunteering and being told by multiple family and friends what a good thing I was doing. But the truth is, I owe a huge thanks to MDA, and more importantly the kids themselves, because they did just as much, if not more, for me, as I did for them.

It was Tuesday afternoon, the second full day of activities. I was on break, sitting at a picnic table under an old mesquite tree. Katie walked up and sat down next to me. The sky was beautiful. The breeze was warm. A camper had just told me he hopes to see me again next summer. Both Katie and I were filled with a sense of happiness and peace that neither of us expected to find at a summer camp. We were both thinking the same thing but before I could say the words myself, she said, "I'm coming back here next year."

And we will.