My first time at summer camp, I was there for only three days and knew I wanted to be a camp counselor when I grew up. Each of the songs we had to sing and the dances that went with them, the stories told around the campfire and the sounds of nature, made an impact on me that I didn’t quite understand until I grew older and camp was calling my name again.

As a 19-year-old who was just rounding out her second year of college, I realized that I needed a change of scenery for the summer, so I decided to apply at the summer camp I had attended as a kid. After one interview over the phone, I was offered the job and just like that, all I had wanted as a child was coming true. I was officially a camp counselor.

Arriving to camp on my first day as a counselor was overwhelming. The people were so incredibly enthusiastic and excited and it was truly a culture shock. I had never met people so genuinely excited to meet me. I hadn’t quite grown accustom to “camp people” yet, especially their volume. If you get a group of camp people together in one room, don’t expect to hear much, because they are probably all singing, dancing, or cheering about something all at the same time. I realized very quickly that these overly excited, enthusiastic people were my people. I realized that I could be exactly who I wanted to be without any judgement from them because that is exactly who they were being too.

That summer, I not only spent time creating magical camp moments for all of my campers, but I spent time finding myself. Camp has a funny way of making you find yourself when you don’t even realize you’ve been looking. I started to come out of my shell. I realized that I could make a complete fool out of myself in front of a group of 200 people at our weekly campfire and just laugh it off. I became a version of myself that was carefree, enthusiastic, and happy. I was happier than I had been in a long time. Working at camp gives you a pass to leave the real world for a little while. It gives you a pass from having to wear makeup to work every day. It gives you a pass from having to check your phone every two minutes, because nope, there isn’t any cell phone service at camp. It gives you a pass to become a family with the camp people that you have grown to love over the six weeks you were able to spend with them.

Camp is a home away from home and every time you leave, you leave a part of yourself there with it, and you count down the days until you can go back again. Camp is a part of who I am, and without it, I wouldn’t be where I am in life today. I wouldn’t be a hard worker when it comes to school, or my regular season job. I wouldn’t be able to communicate with people the way I do now. I wouldn’t be able to make a fool out of myself in front of a huge crowd. I wouldn’t have the courage to be me.

Camp has made me who I am, and I couldn’t be luckier to have camp as my home away from home.