In this article, I want to say thank you to a specific group of people that have changed me in so many ways and have shaped me into the person I am today.

I had gone to Young Life camp every summer throughout high school, so I decided it would be an awesome opportunity to get involved with being on the other side of the whole program. Little did I know that it would be a life-changing experience that I would never forget. I opened up the application the day it was available and applied right away, almost too excited to type out my answers. Waiting to hear back from a camp felt like years. I eagerly checked my email every day and finally one day I got the best response EVER! I was chosen to work at Saranac Village, located right on Saranac Lake. I couldn't wait to go. I talked about it 24/7 during the second semester of college. As I was packing the night before I was supposed to leave, I was thinking about what I wanted to get out of this month where I would be disconnected from everyone at home since we didn't have our phones for most of the month. I decided that I wanted to go into this month and just make some really amazing friendships with everyone because we were all there for the same reason, to serve high school kids and give them the best week of their lives. And that's exactly what we did. The thought that we changed kids lives after them being there is a really awesome feeling to have.

I was blessed to work with some truly, amazing people for a whole month. An entire mont. I wish it could have been longer. I was able to connect with people from all around the United States, and it was honestly the coolest thing I have ever done. Going into the month, I was a bit nervous about forming friendships with others and how everything would all workout. I wish I had NEVER been nervous about it. If I could go back to camp right now, I would do it without any hesitation.

So, to my SS fam...THANK YOU! Thank you for being a terrific support group. Thank you to The Fab Five for being the best group chat ever. Thank you to my amazing Ropes Squad for being a group of super amazing people. Thank you to the best interns ever!!! Thank you to my Summer Staff coordinators for giving us the best month possible. We couldn't have done it without you guys. Thank you all for being such wonderful people. I will never get over how thankful I am to know all of you. You all bring out the best in me and I can't wait to see you all in January. I love y'all so much.

-ERIKA HANKS