Blog Series-Letter to My Past Camper Self
Dear Zeke,
I’m writing this letter to you on the eve of your first day at camp. Tomorrow will not only be your first day at Gwynn Valley but also your first day as a Mountainsider. It all seems a little scary, in that way that unfamiliar words always do. Your brother has animatedly dropped them into conversation over the past year. A word soup of “Adventure and Tajar and Secret Agent and Proud Mary.” You don’t know it yet, but this summer will be the most transformative of your life. It’ll light a fire in you for outdoor adventure and lifelong learning.
You’re worried that everyone on Mountainside has been at camp since they could walk and have been friends for even longer. You’re worried that you’ll be the only person at camp who doesn’t know anyone. Little do you know, you’ll make some of the best and longest friendships of your life this summer! Folks you meet on Mountainside and Riverside will be folks you spend hours cry-laughing with even into adulthood.
Mountain biking isn’t as scary as you think it is! I know we only learned to ride a bike a year ago, and I know we only learned to because we knew that it was one of the adventures on Mountainside. But, it’ll be so fun that you’ll find yourself buying a full suspension and enrolling yourself in mountain biking races (spoiler alert: you don’t place) as an adult! There are so many difficult and challenging things that you’ll experience at camp. Each one of them will make you a more confident and well-rounded person. You can scarcely imagine it now, but one day you’ll be the person instructing campers and students in rock climbing, hiking, and canoeing. Don’t shy away from all the opportunities that you’re about to have to get out of your comfort zone this summer. This summer begins an incredible journey of cultivating a growth mindset. This will become your superpower and this summer is your origin story!
You won’t believe how loud, fun, and goofy you can be! You, a wallflower? Not here! Camp will allow you to come out of your shell more than anything else you’ll ever do in your life. People will get to see such an authentic and genuine version of you. You’ll discover that you love to belt out songs with your friends in the Mountainside Shelter. That you adore skits, especially when it’s retelling tales of capsizing your canoe on the Tuckaseegee River. That you look forward to opportunities to dress up in silly costumes for the Tajar Ball. Gwynn Valley is a place of radical acceptance. Your experiences with that this summer will help you accept the full scope of your being. I’m so excited for you to share that with people this year.
Deciding to take this leap of faith and enrolling in Mountainside is the scariest, but also the best decision you’ve made in your life so far. I wish I could experience it all again this summer for the very first time. Cherish every moment. Embrace every challenge. And don’t sweat the small stuff…some of your favorite memories will come from the tiniest, messiest moments.
You’re gonna move mountains.
Sincerely,
Ezekiel
