My first week of senior year, in my AP Psychology class, my teacher asks us who are hero or heroes are and why. This was a question I had never put much thought into, and I had five minutes to give a response. So after minimal thought and a pretty large revelation I had realized that my heroes now are the same as they had been since I was 10, my camp counselors, but now instead of being these incredible role models who took care of me for a week every summer, they were my coworkers and my best friends for an entire summer. So here is a letter to some incredible heroes.

Dear Heroes,

Instead of capes, you wear staff shirts and costumes to match our pirate or color war theme for our weekly Thursday night dance. Instead of super powers like invincibility, super strength, super speed, or telepathy, You can endure 60+ hour weeks, countless scrapes and cuts, the ability to clean up every paddle board and life jacket and still make it to flag pole on time, the ability to treat every week as if it is the first, and are able to talk a kid into doing the blob for the first time even though it was their fifth summer at camp. You do things that most normal people would never do and it takes someone special to make the commitment that you all do. You devote a big part of your life to making a difference to people, to kids, and to families. You face obstacles that most people would never even think up, from a kid with autism to bullying, to an extreme fear of heights, to behavior problems. You also do receive great rewards in the little things, the hugs and the thank yous, the tearful goodbyes, the lifelong friendships, and the "I can't wait to see you next summer," which are all constant reminders of why you wake up every day at 7 and continue to devote every summer to being your best self, and being a superhero to so many kids. Everything you do is not for the reward or the praise but rather the accomplishment of helping at least one kid have one of the best weeks of their life, and you all do it better than anyone I have ever met. Growing up I always viewed my counselors as the people who could help save the world, and now that I have seen first hand that they do, I am almost certain that that is truly the case.

Sincerely,

A fellow camp counselor