10 Year Camper

Dear Mom, Dad, and Manitou,

I still can’t quite wrap my head around the fact that the once youngest kid at camp in 2017 is now a CIT in his final year as a camper, but here I am. This place has been my home away from home for a decade; words can’t really capture how much it has shaped who I’ve become. I always looked up to the CITs every single year I was here, watching them run around camp like they owned the place, and now, somehow, I am one.

Alongside camp, I’ve grown. I’m not the same kid I was years ago, and camp had a major hand in that, in who I am and how I carry myself day today. I didn’t know a single person my first year. I remember how hard it was to adjust to a totally new environment, new faces, new routines, none of it familiar. But camp taught me how to adapt, over and over, year after year, because that’s just what camp asks of you. New bunk. New bunkmates. New counselors. Every summer you start over in some small way, and somewhere along the line that stopped being scary and started being normal. I got so comfortable, so fast, that Adah ended up clipping my toenails at the waterfront on more than one occasion. That’s not a normal thing to be proud of, but it tells you everything about how quickly this place made me feel at home.

My bunkmates can confirm the energy I had as a low soph never really left me. I would not be nearly as sociable, as friendly, or as extroverted as I am today if I had never walked through camp’s gates. And honestly, even now, this summer’s proof that camp never stops asking you to try something new. I got up wakesurfing for the first time. I played a song for camp band. And of course, I did the play again, and it was just as fun as every other year. The Canada changeover trip was an absolute blast too, one of those trips you don’t fully appreciate until you’re looking back on it and realizing how lucky you are to have been there. Nine summers in, camp is still handing me firsts, and I don’t think that ever really stops if you let it.

On top of all that, bunk life has genuinely been better than ever this summer. I don’t say that lightly. After being in many different ones, I know what a good bunk feels like, and this one is the best.

Camp also made me a competitor, and not in the way you’d expect. I’ve never been an all star athlete. I’m not the guy scoring the winning goal or getting the plays drawn up for him. But I’ve always been part of a team, and I’ve always shown up and done my part. On a more serious note, to any kid out there who gets down on themselves for not having plays set for them, you matter just as much as the next guy. A team isn’t a team without you. Whatever you bring to the field, the court, or the rink, however small it might feel in the moment, is pivotal to that team’s success and makeup. Nobody wins or loses alone here, and nobody should feel like they’re carrying camp by themselves either.

I want to end with the part that matters most to me. I believe it’s your choice to enjoy camp, but it’s your responsibility to make camp enjoyable for others too. Do the right thing. This actually comes from something Johnny Wells said to us. Show up. Show up to loops. Show up to meals. Show up for your friends when they’re feeling down, even when it’s inconvenient, even when you’d rather be somewhere else. Good people show up. Be a good person.

Now, as this letter, this meeting, and my summer come to an end, I want everybody to take a second and really reflect on how much this place means to them. I don’t have much time left here. First session flew by faster than I expected, and I know the other CITs don’t want to hear it, but our days as campers are running short, whether we’re ready for that or not. We are starting to have our last times for things. It’s an incredibly bittersweet feeling. I know how much I’ve grown and learned within camp, and at the same time I know that soon I won’t be in the bunk at night with my best friends in the world, doing who knows what, but having a good time regardless. So let’s not waste what’s left. Let’s all make these last couple weeks of camp amazing, for ourselves and for everyone around us.

Thank you.

Adler