Going to a sleepaway camp not only transforms who you are as an individual but also has a profound impact on your life. Summer camp has the power to turn a few weeks of summer into an experience you will never forget. From the friendships and memories made, to the life lessons learned, true members of the camp community will tell you that it has changed their lives in ways that they could not have imagined.
The Friendships
Friendships made at camp are unlike any other relationship you have ever had. The authenticity of camp allows you to truly be who you are, which in turn fosters connections between individuals. You become part of a summer family that loves and supports one another. Your bunkmates become your sisters and brothers and your counselors are the role models you never knew you needed.
The camp community extends not only to the campers, but also to counselors who come from the UK, Australia, South Africa, and the United States. The bonds made at camp carry over and continue to solidify throughout the year as counselors travel around the world to visit one another. Because of the friendships formed at camp, counselors know that no matter where their travels take them, there will always be a friendly face to welcome them into their home.
The Memories
The camp community is so widespread that no matter what camp you attend, there is a commonality that bonds individuals together. Whether it be the cheers, the campfires, or competition, the stories of past summers allow for memories to be shared and cherished.
Because of camp networking, finding a roommate in college becomes less stressful and allows for a broader circle of friends to be established. Talk of summer camp is the perfect conversation starter as stories about camp are never ending. Each member of the camp community always has a favorite story to tell or lesson learned from their experience at sleepaway camp.
The Lessons Learned
The strongest connection throughout the camp community is the impact it had on all of our lives. Over the course of a few weeks, summer camp is able to teach you more about yourself than you would think possible. On one hand, camp reveals your strengths as you build both your athletic and creative skills, while on the other hand, camp shows you how to be a friend, a good listener, and a confident leader. Camp has the power to teach you how to be yourself and accept everyone around you with open arms.
During the school year, dedicated athletes devote hours a day to their skill. Most spend time before and after school working on their strength, speed, agility, focus, and concentration. From the first day of practice to their final game, athletes see a significant improvement thanks to the time commitment they’ve put towards their sport.
After working a summer at sleepaway camp, it is hard to summarize the vast amount of experience gained in just a few weeks. Over the course of one summer, you are presented with challenges, lessons, an increased set of skills, and numerous other benefits. When you think of a summer spent working at sleepaway camp, the first thing that comes to mind are the times spent on the field helping kids learn how to kick a soccer ball, in the bunk playing jacks with your campers, or at the evening campfires roasting S’mores. Because each of these moments are filled with lifelong memories, it can be challenging to recognize that these moments are extremely applicable in the professional world.
Children and teenagers are constantly surrounded by stimuli. They are easily overwhelmed with the sights and sounds that surround them, and often don’t have the skills to be fully present and limit distractions. This is why more and more teachers and professionals are incorporating mindfulness into their curriculum. And why Camp Starlight has been doing it since the beginning.
As last sunset of the summer touches the lake and the Starlight shirts are packed away, another summer at Camp Starlight has come to a close. The summer flew by as the wind does through the trees, easily and without notice. It’s not until the activities slow down and trunks lift out of the attic that you realize another summer of fun, laughter, excitement and challenge has come and gone. You won’t be able to see the growth within yourself if you stare up close in the mirror, but it is visible in the list of achievements you’ve accomplished throughout the summer, whether big or small. Smiling at your new friends and hugging your old ones, Camp Starlight has brought you together with people you never knew you would meet in life from all over the world. Remembering all the times you spent laughing at the evening activity, singing and cheering during Olympics and how excited you were to start the summer when you hopped off the bus, the memories from the summer of 2017 flood you entirely. It’s really at the end of the summer that you realize how special this place is and how it’s magic transforms an ordinary summer of work and play into a season of outrageous amounts of fun and unique opportunities. Preparing for goodbyes have never been as difficult as when you have to separate from those you have grown closest to and admire. You may wonder how does time move this fast exactly when you don’t want it to and why will these next ten months until camp feel like ten years. The wait is long, the goodbyes are hard and the heartache is heavy, but all of this is worth it when you hop on the bus to go home because you know soon enough you will hop right back off to your summer home, Camp Starlight. 
After a great battle between blue and white, the annual Olympics at Camp Starlight came to a final close, declaring Happy Blue Day the successor on girl’s side and Grand Stand White the winner of boy’s side. Every single camper, regardless what team they were on, put in one hundred and ten percent effort into these Olympic games, embracing every unusual task or challenge that would earn their team points. Campers wouldn’t even do a double take when asked to toss cheese puffs onto a camper’s head full of shaving cream, duke it out in the most intense game of Gaga or eat dinner in complete silence to help their team win. Olympics is a five day event that everyone takes seriously, counselors and staff included because it is also their hard work and dedication that helps their team win. Counselors and staff can sacrifice all their time to help design costumes and a set for Sing! or compete in staff volleyball games during rest hour just so that their team can get a few extra points. No matter how few or many points a camper or counselor earned for their team, they all added up in the end and without them the results wouldn’t have been the same. Olympics is a time that brings all of the campers, counselors and staff together, a special event that bonds everyone together as they all fight for the same goal. When the winners are announced at the end of the fifth day, cheering and shouts of joy erupted in the air but it didn’t compare to the rewarding feeling when everyone from the blue and white teams rushed the lake, celebrating all the things that every camper had been able to achieve during this Olympics. While winning is a reward in itself, the real reward of Olympics are the memories everyone was able to create during these five days of fun, athleticism, teamwork and friendship. 
For the second day of Olympics, the girls of Happy Blue Day proved even stronger than on the first day, amping up all the energy and spirit for the games. The Juniors served up some tough competition for the Grand Stand Whites on the tennis courts and battled in the sand during a tough game of Newcombe on the volleyball courts. The sand of beach volleyball and the nets of the tennis courts were also well defended by the Lower Inters, bringing just as much intensity as the Juniors. Running bases with ease, the Upper Inters glided through pitches on the softball diamond and took their coordination skills to the test for the soccer shootouts. The Lower Debs also put their soccer skills to the test for an exciting game of soccer against the white team. Upper Debs dribbled effortlessly around the Grand Stand Whites in basketball and slammed some pitches for a game of softball. Defending Happy Blue Day with ferocity, the Seniors raced around the field in soccer and competed in the boating meet with power and spirit. All the girls proved their dedication to their team and made their coaches and counselors proud when sporting the color blue with pride. 
“It’s a Junior’s Life For Me” was a popular phrase said by every Junior on the ever anticipated Junior Day this summer. A pirate themed day, all the Juniors had the entirety of Camp Starlight to themselves to have fun as pirates and play to overtake Camp Starlight as their treasure. Junior Day is a day devoted to the fun of the Juniors where they can play all over camp and not worry about anything except discovering as much buried treasure as possible. Diving into the waterfront to unearth treasure, whipping up edible treasure in the Farmhouse and searching for clues from sea creatures in the swamp, Juniors embraced their inner pirate for a day full of fun under the sun. The Juniors sport bandanas and eye patches to fully embrace the pirate role, enjoying a day of activities that are just for themselves. Camp Starlight hosts these themed days for the Juniors to show their appreciation for the youngest division because of all the bright energy they bring to camp. The Juniors are the first to laugh and to raise their hand to participate in an evening activity, their energy is something that everyone at Camp Starlight loves to feed off of and embrace. The atmosphere of camp is so positive when the Juniors are around to giggle and have fun with the other campers and counselors. Junior Day is a great event that highlights the positivity and fun of the Juniors and inspires everyone at camp to see everyday as fun as they do. Because of their spirit and love for summer camp, the Juniors inspire others to say “It’s a Junior Life For Me.”