Hey, Camp Fans!
There are more stories to share from the Everything Summer Camp ‘Share Your Camp Story’ Contest! Your camp stories were so great and were such a fun time reading through them all and it’s been exciting to share them with all our readers online! We’re publishing each submission individually on a post right here on the Blog one by one!
We had ten lucky prize winners and now it’s time to publish the rest of your submissions. The following submission is from Cecilia R. who wrote in to us about her summer adventure at Camp Med-O-Lark:
“Every year when school comes to an end and summer begins, all of my friends leave town and head off to their summer camps. They all share “what an experience” it is and I felt that it might be time for me to gain a little more independence and go out and make new friends and get familiar with what it would feel like without my parents around. I never knew that after asking my mother she said “go pick out a camp that interests you, and I will sign you up.” I felt the pressure of being questioned why I wanted to go away all by myself suddenly disappeared. The following fall I would be going to a new school with no one, so I thought I might as well put myself out there and meet some people like me.
So 2 weeks later, after a short car ride, I stepped on campus with my 3 bags and an open mind and got checked in. The camp is a non-competitive art camp right near the coast of Maine. When you pull in you are introduced to an open barn home to the circus area with a huge flying trapeze right across on a field. After we parked the car and handed my bags to one of the counselors, Ralph, we walked over to the circus area where a woman named Missy would check us in. As we made our way over me feeling a bit shy, I encountered my soon to be horseback riding coach! Rachel was so polite with her accent being from Leeds, UK.
As I stand in line to check in there is a family in front of me; One dad, One mom, and a girl with long brown hair, braces, and blue crocs. As I stand there, I overhear the girl's mother; “Don't worry sweetheart, there are other people here who are new and just as nervous as you,” I smile feeling better. After the girl in front of me is done checking in, the trolley that drives you through the woods to the main part of camp arrives. Her parents tell her she can probably catch it and with a kiss goodbye she is in the trolley on her way to the main part of camp. I longed to be able to get on that trolley with her to just get out of line and run. I did not want to miss out on meeting someone that I may not see the rest of camp. I wanted to know her.
As the trolley drives away and I am checked in, I wait with my parents for the trolley. And as the creaky old trolley starts bumping up the hill, I know it is time to say goodbye. It was weird. In this whole time I never really felt nervous. Well I mean when you pull up into a camp you have never been to you get a little skeptical. But I hopped on that trolley and waved goodbye in confidence, because going to camp is what I wanted to do. It was for me, not for my friends, or my parents, but for a start to a new chapter in my life. A child can only grow confidence from believing in themselves. Not by others believing in them, but by yourself truly knowing your worth.
And it turns out I did meet that girl from the check in. She was one of my bunk mates and new friend, Sophie from CT. And on that trolley there, the first people I met were Olivia, and Ren from LA. And later in the day I met my two other new best friends Maya and Christa from Hong Kong. Sophie, Christa, Maya, and I ended up writing and performing a fun song with us all singing and me playing guitar of a song about lifejackets. Who would have thought! Camp truly is a place to find out who you are and most of all being with people that love you the whole way.
I learned Hawaiian and belly dance from an incredible coach named Cami, I learned how to hold chopsticks and eat sushi and now I love sushi! When I went to Hawaii I even tried eel sushi and it was the best thing I ever tasted (thank you Christa for teaching me!) I learned how to perfectly crimp dumplings, thanks Nicki! And I learned so much more! It's true what they say after all Med-O-Lark is “ where campers go to make friendships that last a lifetime.”
Written by Cecilia Ross”
Awesome, Cecilia! It’s great to hear that you took a chance on overnight camp this year and that you found it so welcoming and enjoyable! Sounds like you had a well-rounded, active, fun, and educational time away at Camp Med-O-Lark. Now you get to join your friends in sharing “what an experience” you got to have for your summer camp this summer. And, of course, thanks for sharing your time at camp with us.
If anybody else is interested in checking out Camp Med-O-Lark, give it a closer look when you click right here. Thanks for reading and, as always, Happy Camping!
- John