Life Lessons Learned at Camp

You could say I have a long-standing relationship with summer camp. My dad, a pastor, took large groups of kids to a local church camp every summer from the time before I was born until I was well into elementary school. One of the perks of being a PK (pastor’s kid) was that I got to join in on occasion, even though I was too young to be an actual camper. What it amounted to was I got to be the resident mascot for a week.

Middle school girls fawned over my towhead pigtails and preschool pronunciation faux pas, which meant instead of being annoyed that they had a pint-sized shadow following them around, they greeted me with open arms. I’m told I had a particular gift for finding ways to move my way up the long line in the cafeteria when the dinner bell rang, too. Rather than wait my turn patiently, I would simply tap the person in front of me and reach out with open arms to signify I wanted to be held—only to repeat the exact same stunt with each succeeding person until I found my way to the front of the line. Pretty smooth, when you think about it! Many a night the sound of campfire songs off in the distance serenaded me into dreamland. 

Camp was utterly magical then—bug bites, calamine lotion and all—and nothing dampened the experience when I was old enough to be an official camper myself. What I experienced from those times away from home taught me much, both about life and myself.

What a Difference a Day Makes

My first experience as a camper wasn’t a weeklong excursion, but rather a day camp. I discovered dormitories to explore (which somehow hold a magical appeal when you’re not yet staying in one), a canteen with more candy than a second-grader could ever shake a stick at and craft stations to boot! Sweet new friendships blossomed in the most unsuspecting places (like the nurse’s station after a head-to-head collision with another camper during an unusually rowdy round of bobbing for apples). At the end of the camp session, friendship bracelets were exchanged, as were phone numbers and addresses. That first official tenure as a camper may have been brief, but the friendships forged during that initial stay were enough to keep me busy the following school year with a handful of new pen pals.

Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

It might sound contradictory, but sometimes it takes being away from your parents to realize how much you want to be with them. Life at camp held an allure because it was new and exciting. Only one week a year do you eat a steady diet of junk food, play outdoors all day until your skin burns to a crisp (despite endless applications of sunscreen), stay up until the wee hours of the night, only to have an early wake-up call the next morning and do it all over again.

The memories made at camp were fantastic, but the lifestyle wasn’t sustainable long-term. And being apart from my parents made me realize how much I appreciated all they did for me on a day-in, day-out basis. It was at camp that I discovered my mom’s traditional morning wake-up call (a soft reminder to get up, preceded by a gentle back rub) was far more appreciated than the sound of the camp counselor’s gruff voice streaming through the campground PA system. And even though she sent so many letters that I got an egg on the head in front of the whole camp (camp rules when you get more than five pieces of mail in one day!), it was worth it to know my mom missed me while I was away too.

Try New Things

All throughout elementary school and junior high, my extracurricular life consisted of piano lessons and ballet classes. Camp, however, provided an opportunity to try my hand at different activities without the long-term commitment. In middle school, I tried archery and horseback riding, things I never would have attempted at home but found surprisingly exhilarating. In high school, my camp offered a handful of courses ranging from the arts to athletics to community service. Each year, I stretched myself to try something new. One year I wrote for the camp newspaper (new editions were hot off the press every evening), another I worked in service and helped keep up the facilities. Yet another year, I worked with a performance group that sang to the campers each evening. Each activity appealed to different sensibilities, but I learned something from each one.

Enjoy the Great Outdoors

One of the biggest benefits of attending camp is learning that there’s a big world out there beyond screens and electronic devices—and that it’s completely possible to have fun without the use of technology! In an internet-reliant world, unplugging to simply enjoy nature can be hard. Camp affords the opportunity to stop and smell the roses (though a camper might smell more like campfire smoke than roses by the end of a full day!).

Freelance writer Lauren Greenlee comes from a long lineage of camp directors and has been both a camper and a camp counselor. As the mom of three boys, she looks forward to providing the same summer experiences for her own children.