To the people who have been with me from the start:

It is crazy to think that 9 summers ago my parents dropped me off at a bus stop totally unsure of the people I would be living with or of the experiences I would have. I can remember arriving at overnight camp and walking into a bunk of 12 girls that I barely knew. All of a sudden, I began sleep, eating and doing activities with these girls 24/7. If you told me 9 years ago that these girls would grow to be my best friends, I would say you are crazy. However, here we are, separated by college, yet closer than ever.

Thank you to my original bunkmates. Thank you for embracing me through every awkward stage of my childhood. Thank you for crying with me when I missed my parents and for staying in the dining hall with me EXTRA long. Thank you for letting me wear all of your clothes and for having sleepovers in those tiny twin-sized beds. Thank you for finding me dates to all of the dances and for setting me up with boys at canteen. Thank you for allowing me to be my most fun, wild, crazy self at all times. Thank you for letting me be me.

Thank you to my CIT summer. I spent 6 summers with the same 12 people and never branched out. My last summer, all 3 bunks in my age group combined to form one giant bunk of 28 people. This might sound like a nightmare, but it was truly the greatest summer of my life. Thank you to all of the new friends I made. Thank you for the craziest shower hour and for the most insane dance parties. Thank you for the late-night talks in the top bunk beds and the endless food parties. Thank you for an amazing week in Disney and for being ourselves at all times. Thank you for creating a camper experience that is almost impossible to leave behind.

Thank you to the gap summer I took. It is really hard to see all of your friends going back except you and a few others. Actually, it’s not hard; it’s painful. Imagine seeing all of your best friends together except you. However, taking a summer away was the greatest decision ever. Instead of going back, one of my camp friends and I ventured to Australia. Not only did this experience make us even closer, but we got to make even more friends. What this experience truly taught me is that you do not need camp itself to maintain your camp friends. This experience proved that my bonds with my friends were unbreakable and if we are already separated for 10 months of the year, what’s another 2?

Thank you to the one summer I took to be a counselor. While returning to camp and not getting to be with your bffs 24/7 is not ideal, it is still amazing. I got to make incredible bonds with younger campers and still be with my friends a lot. Although being a counselor is great, it’s not all roses and butterflies. As a camper, you take for granted all of the times your counselor stayed up at night with you or did an activity that they really didn’t want to do. So, thank you to my summer as a counselor, for offering another perspective to the camp world.

Thank you to the 10 months spent apart. Whether you are a camper or a counselor, the 10 months that you do not see your camp friends every day is still an impactful part. It is during these 10 months that you maintain the friendship and actually grow closer. It is the ultimate friendship test when the relationship is taken outside of the camp world and it is up to you to keep in touch. Thank you to my friends who always text me, checking in and asking how I am. Thank you to the friends who FaceTime me and try to arrange get-togethers. Thank you to the friends who still listen to my life drama and lend a shoulder to cry on as if we were together in person. Thank you to the friends who still stay with me as I mature, grow up and attempt to figure life out. Thank you to the friends who have helped me create memories I will never forget and for friendships that I know will last a lifetime.

Love always,

The random 10 year old you met in 2009