Significance of Camp

Swim lessonEvery year when school starts, we are asked what we did over summer. Well in short, I go to a summer camp in Maine called Wyonegonic Camps. But Wyonegonic is so much more to me than just a summer camp.

I have been alive for 208 months and counting, the most significant months being the seven months I’ve spent at Wyonegonic. I started going to Wyonegonic the summer before freshman year of high school and I now am an assistant counselor going into senior year. Summer camp has been and continues to be the most important part of my life.

BackpackIn the two months I am at camp, I learn more about who I am and who I want to be than I do throughout the other ten months of the year combined. I learn how to lead with confidence and eloquence. I learn who my true friends are. I learn that I can and should make mistakes. And most importantly, I learn how to take responsibility for my actions. I breathe, I act, and I grow from these lessons. Without the knowledge I’ve gained, I simply wouldn’t be me.

As an assistant counselor this summer, I’ve helped to pass these lessons on to my campers. This is incredible because I love sharing my experiences with the kids, yet at the same time, I am still learning and growing up. Wyonegonic has provided me with this amazing opportunity to be a role model while still idolizing the counselors older than me.

CampersAnother amazing aspect of camp is the people I work with. These strong women have been there for me (not always physically, but rather on the phone) countless times throughout the year. Whenever I am feeling scared, happy, sad, or just want to talk, my camp friends are there. I have called my camp friends at all hours to tell them something amazing I did or just to cry about something that happened to me. In return, I do everything to help a fellow member of the camp family. I have no idea how I got through obstacles before I had my camp friends to help guide me and remind me that there is a whole community that loves and cares about me.

I cannot imagine who I would be if I hadn’t come to camp four summers ago. So when I am asked about what I do at camp, it is so much more than swimming or going on a hiking trip (although both are very fun), it is about the lessons I learn and the life-long friends I make. Camp is something I couldn’t do without. Camp Wyonegonic is my home.

Missy Carlson

Leave a Reply