I attended Camp in 2013. At 16, it was the first time I had left home for a significant amount of time. It’s hard to describe the experience and how it has impacted my life because in many ways it completely changed the course of it. Before Camp, I was a shy, soft-spoken, teenager afraid to be noticed or take up too much space. While at Camp I shed my layers of protection and learned how to be vulnerable, take up space, and accept myself. The values instilled in me of community, sisterhood, empathy, leadership, and acceptance during camp have shaped the way I navigate the world.
Camp gave me the space to discover the meaning of sisterhood. As a young woman, this has been priceless to me. I have been able to build strong bonds with other women and have learned how to move past pre-fabricated social anxiety based on gender competition. I have become someone who seeks to raise others up instead of tearing them down for my own superficial gain.
During my time at Camp, my peers and counselors pushed me to be brave and honest with myself. It was through this newly found confidence that I was able to send an application to the United World College that same year. After being accepted to the school in Duino, I went to school with one of my second years, who kept pushing me to be unapologetically me, and was always there for me when the going got tough. My experience at Camp gave me the background to be able to build new relationships and adapt to this new home away from home.
The fearlessness to make choices boldly was something that was imparted on me during my time at Clinton, as my sisters and I celebrated our achievements and supported each other through our hardships. At Camp I was allowed to be unapologetically me and be accepted for it. I was encouraged to speak up and understood the importance and weight of my voice. After Camp, I have kept using that voice against injustice, inequality and in favor of those whose voices go unheard. Despite not fully understanding what the word ‘ally’ meant at 16, my time at Clinton helped me understand the importance of being not just your own safe space, but providing that for others. I continue to live my life with radical empathy for others and for myself.
It is hard to describe what Camp means to me, and how this meaning has changed over time as I continue to reflect on it. When I turned 21 and received my Vigil Letter, I realized the security and the wisdom beyond my years I acquired at Camp. It reminded me of beautiful nights in Froggy Hideaway, when we would keep talking well into the night, building outdoor showers for the Willamina, and the faces of 60 strangers that over a summer became my sisters. Camp for me is a transformative and invaluable moment in my life that has changed my life in more ways I even realize. The most valuable lesson I carry with me from Camp, is the realization that there was a place in this world I belonged to