When this whole thing started, there was a lot of uncertainty.

No one really knew how long this would all go on or what would come out of it...and to be honest, we still really don't.

For goodness' sake, we all thought we were going back to school right after spring break! While we still don't have all the answers, slowly but surely, I started to learn more and more things. First, it was school getting canceled, then it was all my sorority events, then it was my first trip to Israel. One thing after another, I was starting to lose hope that I had anything to look forward to. Yet the one thing that I had in the back of my mind, that one thing that kept me going, was camp, as it has remained the one thing yet to be canceled.

I think that it's kind of crazy that I've yet to write an article about camp, considering it has been one of the most important things in my life.

I have been attending camp in some capacity every summer since I was three years old. Camp has given me lifelong friends, amazing memories, taught me what it means to be a leader, and has truly shaped me in the person that I am today. I think anyone who has gone to camp at one point in their life can understand what I mean, that camp feeling.

What makes my story unique, however, is that camp runs in my blood.

For those of you who don't know, my mom is a day camp director at JCC Elaine Frank Apachi Day Camp in Lake Zurich, Illinois. For the last 26 years, she has worked her way up from a counselor, unit head, programming director, assistant director, and now finally the director of one of the JCC's largest day camps in the Chicagoland area.

One of the most common questions I get when people ask about my mom's job is: "Well, what does she do during the school year?"

Um, everything! People have no clue how much thought, time, and planning goes into running a day camp. All year long, my mom works on taking registrations, creating schedules, organizing field trips, interviewing staff, and thinking every detail that goes into the eight short weeks of camp. As my mom likes to say, she lives "10 for 2," spending all year long making sure that children have the most positive experience in those short two months at camp.

I could go on and on about what camp has done for me and how special it is to my whole family, and one day I probably will.

But I think it's more important for me to talk about what my mom has done for camp. Over the years, I have seen my mom excel at camp. She has been an inspiration for so many counselors, created innovative ideas for programming, and developed amazing relationships with the children, staff, and colleagues. When I really sit and think about it, there were so many great moments that I have had at camp in my life that could all be traced back to her hard work and guidance.

Despite every wonderful thing that I've witnessed my mom accomplishing in her years at camp, I don't think that I have ever been prouder of her than I have been in the last few weeks in this pandemic.

Seeing her work all hours of the night thinking and dreaming up this new normal has been absolutely incredible to see. During this whole time, I have watched my mom sit on countless zoom calls every day, watching her create all these contingency plans of how we could do camp in these situations. Rather than asking herself, "Can we do this? Is this even possible?" my mom has been asking herself, "How can we? How can we make this work?" I know that there are days where she feels defeated, lost, and really not sure how this can all be possible, but each time she has bounced back and proved that she is ready to take on this challenge.

After reading guidelines from the CDC, the American Camping Association, and policies from the state and governor, it seems like camp is going to be a go in July as long as the state of Illinois is in phase 4 of their "Reopen Illinois" plan as outlined by Gov. Pritzker.

However, it is going to be a camp experience unlike anything that we've ever seen before. Masks and social distancing are going to be the norm. Group sizes are going to be smaller and many children may not even be fit to come to camp if they are not going to be able to follow the guidelines or parents don't feel the summer is safe for them. Activities like sports, swimming, rock climbing, arts and crafts, the Maccabi games, all-camp talent shows — activities that have defined my own camp experience — are going to be either altered or removed completely for this summer. It is by no means going to be like a traditional camp summer, and everyone, including myself, is trying their hardest to wrap our heads around this.

As plans continue to be developed with the day camp team, hard decisions are constantly to be made and as the director, my mom has to continue to stand by it.

Trying to maintain that balance of trying to think of new and innovative policies and programming for the summer all while prioritizing the health and safety of campers is not an easy task. There are millions of ideas and opinions that she is hearing from all different people, and it is a lot to have to make sense of. It's a lot of pressure, stress, and responsibility for one person to take on, something that my mom certainly did not anticipate she would ever have to deal with when she signed up for this job, or well at least to this caliber.

I would be lying if I didn't admit that I am feeling unsettled about the possibility for this summer, especially as I am slowly realizing that I am not going to experience a true camp summer as I have known it.

This is the first summer that I am finally on the leadership team as the coordinator for the CIT (counselor-in-training) program and assisting with social work/behavioral management with campers. This is a position I am both passionate about and I feel that I can genuinely make a difference in this role. But what I do know is that going forward, I am going to try my hardest to have an open mind and embrace it for all it is going to be. This may not be what I anticipated the summer to look like, but it is certainly going to be one that I will never forget. I am doing it for myself, but more importantly, for my own mom who continues to inspire me each and every day, now more than ever.

My mom has experienced many crazy, scary, and difficult things throughout her twenty-six years of day camp, things that many people would probably not even believe.

However, this summer is going to be a challenge unlike any other. Being a day camp director may not seem like the job of an "essential worker," but my mom is about to sacrifice her own health and safety to ensure the same for other people this summer. That, to me, is the definition of a hero. I know that things are not going to be easy and she is going to work her ass off day in and day out to make sure that things run safely and for the best interest of everyone, and I can't wait to be even prouder I am of her than I already am now if that's even possible. I believe in you, mama, everyone else believes in you, but it's about time that you start believing in yourself.