The Kids Who Need It Most

       As the months and years go by, I will (sadly) forget a lot of moments from camp. Ten years from now, I won't remember who won the dodgeball tournament during rest hour at XTreme week, or the lyrics to Dino's modified Bruno Mars song, and eventually, the names of my first cabinmates will slip my mind. But there is a moment from my first year as a C.I.T. that I will always remember: it was my second day at camp and I was barely used to my new camp name, "Katnip." I turned 14 a few months before and I had a lot to learn about being a camp counselor (I still do).      
       That morning, everyone gathered in the bottom of Shinn for chapel, and I went to introduce myself to my favorite counselor's cabin. I started chatting with a young girl named *Caitlin (name has been changed). I noticed this girl during flag the night before: her hair was dark brown with blonde highlights that had grown out a good 6 inches and I remembered her big toe peeping out her tennis shoe. We talked for a few minutes about little thing: middle school, her impressions about camp so far, favorite colors, etc., and she never stopped smiling. Caitlin's chocolate-brown eyes sparkled and she had the cutest dimples ever.

       Then, all of the sudden, she started crying. As we hugged, Caitlin told me that her dad had passed away in April after fighting cancer, and her mother abandoned the family when she was little, so her grandmother moved from Mexico to take care of her and her brothers. (She came to camp on a scholarship.) I don't remember exactly what I said to her, but I kept hugging her and I think I told her how I felt when I almost lost my mom a few years back, and after that she felt a lot better. Throughout the rest of the week, Caitlin and I bonded and when Friday night came, she was crying because she didn't want to leave. She thanked me for being her friend and helping her look on the bright side. She said that camp was life changing.

       I will never forget Caitlin or her beautiful smile. I will always admire her strength and courage. That day in the bottom of Shinn, I learned that camp is about so much more than archery and canoeing and cabin lip synchs. Camp is about newfound hope, love, and renewal. I learned that a lot of campers come from broken homes, and more often than not, they are the ones who need camp the most.