Turning the corner to see the Camp Starlight sign was the best feeling I had since finishing school. While on the camp road I had butterflies in my stomach and I knew I was back at my second home. When I stepped off the bus I was greeted by my best friends who I hadn’t seen in months. My bunk is awesome and I love my counselors, I know it is going to be the best summer ever!
Signed, Upper Inter
I can’t believe that this is my last summer being a camper at Camp Starlight. Last night was the first campfire and it was a great way to kick off the summer. The traditions we have at Camp Starlight are truly special and I am so happy that I was able to take part in them. As each camper sang their divisional cheers, it brought back all my memories throughout my past 7 summers. I can’t wait to make memories this summer that will last a lifetime!
Signed, Upper Senior
Today I got my camp sisters! Both of my camp sisters are older than me. One is a lower deb and the other is an upper senior. All of the girl’s side walked down to the camp fire holding hands. We sang our cheer and had s’mores! They were so good! I can’t wait to spend more time with my camp sisters!
Signed, Upper Junior
In a world of selfies, Instagram likes and Facebook’s new “love” feature, people are putting more emphasis on taking a picture of an experience than really enjoying and living in the experience itself. We participate in an event (concert, party, sporting event, social gathering) but spend most of the time trying to get the most artistic angle, the coolest filter and the best overall image quality to generate enough likes (and now loves) to make us feel valued, heard and appreciated online. As we view life through the camera function on our phones, we are missing the big picture, by trying to get a good one.
Posing for pictures at camp is beneficial for the campers’ self image. It helps them see what parents and counselors and family member see when they look at the pictures; real kids having real fun. It helps campers become more confident about who they are without the need to fix, edit, change, crop or filter anything out. Kids get so wrapped up in social media and how they are portrayed to the world, always comparing themselves to others and forgetting to appreciate who they really are. Self confidence issues happen when teens begin to think that the perfect images displayed on their friends’ Facebook profiles are real life, and they begin to compare their life with others. They forget that for the one perfect picture that was posted, there were probably 50 others that were taken that didn’t make the cut. Letting campers see what they really look like when they are really having fun will help them realize that a picture of a t-shirt stained, muddy shoe kid having the time of their lives is so much more valuable than a perfectly timed selfie in the bathroom.
“How did that shirt get so dirty?” It’s the question that has been baffling Starlight parents for generations. Allow me to pull the curtain back and give you a glimpse of what happens to your son and that shirt during a typical day at camp.
Something changes in our schools once we get back from spring break. Our brains switch from “I need this break” to “summer is right around the corner!” In most states, the temperatures are rising, and all of us (and probably our teachers!) are counting down the days until freedom.