It’s that time of year when counselors try to decide if they are coming to back to camp this year! For some counselors, it’s a quick decision about which they don’t even need to think twice. They immediately call the winter office and proudly exclaim, “I’m coming back!” These counselors know they can live another “10 for 2” and can’t wait to return to Starlight to see their friends and campers, both old and new!
For some counselors, the decision doesn’t come as easily. It might be that this is supposed to being their internship summer, maybe they have to stay at school to take classes, or are feeling the pressure of graduation and the need to get a “Big Kid/Full time “job.
What has kept bringing me back each summer has been what I call the “little moments” that make me smile throughout the year and remind me why I need to go back to camp this summer. Sometimes it’s while studying for a big exam and hearing “the song of the summer.” Suddenly, I feel the same energy and excitement I felt on welcome day when the buses pulled in, and I finally met my bunk. Other times, it’s having a British professor whose accent can’t help but remind me of my hilarious co-counselor from the UK. But my absolute favorite is when I’m walking to class, and the air actually smells like a warm summer day at camp. In the back of my mind I can hear children laughing and playing, and even my backpack feels like a drawstring bag filled with emergency sunscreen.
Every counselor’s moments are different, but it’s what binds us together in our love for camp and our desire to return to Starlight as many summers as possible. And, hopefully, your “little moments” help you finally make the call to say, “I’m coming back!”
See you soon, Summer 2014!
–Tana
