Life at camp is full of fun and friendship. It’s almost indescribable for anyone who hasn’t experienced such an environment. It’s full of smiles and hugs. It’s a place where you’ll see two grown men just hugging it out. Everyone is full of love for one another, and no one gets left behind. It’s one big happy family within your cabin and your staff.

Without even realizing, you leave the summer full of experiences like no other. You’re mixed among such a diverse group of staff from all over the world, all of whom become your closest friends without even realizing it. With summer coming close to an end, you leave full of wisdom that you will take home and apply it to your life once you’re home.

1. Be yourself, there’s no one like you.

I know, it’s super cheesy and corny, but it couldn’t be anymore true. You are free to be yourself. Everyone has some unique quirk that makes him or her ever so special. Everyone in his or her own way shines brighter than the sun on a hot summer day.  

2. You are your own harshest critic.

In the outside world, there’s pressure to be up to social standards. At camp though, if can get yourself out of bed and get ready in seven minutes, it’s a new record. You set the standards for yourself, and you don’t have the outside world influencing your actions. You are your own biggest fan and harshest critic.

3. The bonds you make at camp are unbreakable.

The friends you make at camp are the friends you’ll know forever. You can just be goofy and silly all the time, and they’ll be just like that with you; when you have a rough day, they’ll sit with you on the dock and just let you cry. You have 140 other counselor friends who are experiencing the same thing, but each person a little bit differently. You all have an instant bond which you cherish every moment.

4. Life isn’t all about winning.

In life, we very much get caught up on winning and loosing. Spending the past seven weeks at camp, you realize it isn’t about winning but it’s about having the most fun and being the most spirited. There are two types of loosing, the type where you’re sad about it, and the type where you’re happy for the opponent who won and happy for yourself for the amount of fun you had playing.

5. You have a step up on parenthood.

Being a camp counselor is a lot like being 12 other children’s parents. You have eyes on them everywhere, and you look out for his or her best interest. When they have a bad day, you’re right there next to them to talk it through with them. You put them to bed every night and wake them up every morning.

6. Everything your parents tell you is true.

Growing up, you don’t completely listen to what your parents tell you. Often times it goes in one ear and out the other. Your parents care for you to the moon and back, and that is the type of bond you create with your campers. Everything your parents told you couldn’t be any more true.