We asked Jackie Ramos '91, '92 to share with us some lessons she gained from her Camp experience, and what advice she might have for future campers. Here is what she had to say.
"There are so many lessons to learn at Camp Rising Sun, but one that stands out for me is that as young women, we leave behind imprints of our lives that follow us through to our future. This holds true for me as I would never have imagined that as a young lady 23+ years ago, the lasting legacy I left behind at Camp (both in spirit and material) would have a significant, lasting and profound impact when my daughter Sophie Rose became a legacy camper in 2014 and 2015. I have had the fortunate opportunity to see in my daughter’s eyes what Camp meant to me and has done for me. To hear her declare “Camp changed my life for the better,” the very words that I spoke 23 years ago… now, that’s a lasting legacy. Sometimes, as young people, we go through life jumping from one thing to the next with little thought of the “tokens” we pick up and leave behind. My advice would be to take a moment to cherish all that camp offers, cherish the conversations you have with your fellow camp sisters/brothers, because it very well may be the last time you speak with them. Make sure to spend quality time with each and every person at camp and break the cliques that naturally tend to form. Your world will become smaller as you bring your sisters/brothers closer to your heart. In the meantime, your life gets bigger as you nurture friendships from near and far.
Not a day goes by that the spirit of Camp does not enter my world in one form or another. It appears on the checkout line when I turn to the person next to me and ask them how they are doing. It happens when I get an irate call from an employee who needs to know that I am listening to them. It appears when I walk down the street and look up and see the beauty in the big blue sky and the chirping birds. Camp gave me a sense of awareness of the tokens in life and of myself as a contributing human being on this great Earth. I use what I learned from Camp while raising my daughter to be open to all faiths, religions, races and orientations. I will echo what I said 23 years ago and my daughter repeated and that is... Camp changed my life for the better!"