Dear Sunrise Day Camp,

First of all, you are a camp for kids with cancer, but more than that you are a place where everyone gets to have fun and actually do “normal” kid stuff, which is awesome. I have been attending this camp for about nine summers now, give or take a few gap years. Throughout these years, I have traveled through different friend groups, and made many new friends as a camper. Because of you, I have so many memories. I will never forget the water fights, the paint fights, team scavenger hunts or any other of the fun activities you offered. As a camper, there was no other place outside of home I wanted to spend my summers.

Now, this year, I attended as a counselor.

Thank you for giving me such amazing campers and counselors, and making my summer one of the best ones I have ever had. Thank you for giving me such incredible moments with my campers; like when I would chase them around the playground, or when they would tell me I was their favorite counselor. I will truly miss these kids after camp, but I had one hell of a summer with them. It is so rewarding that they remember my name, because that means they remember who I am, which is amazing for a 5-year-old. Saying goodbye will be so hard, but I’m glad I got to meet each and every one of them. I’ll never forget them.

This year, I was also a Color War captain as a first year counselor.

Since there were four different teams, being a captain was difficult, but thank you for letting me enjoy it (at least most of it). I had awesome campers willing to help; I had one literally design something with only a couple of other people and counselors willing to help. It was a very rough week for all of us, but the captains got to actually meet each other and get so close. We all helped each other out whenever we could, usually staying at camp until 2 a.m., but always managing to get our teams cheering and riled up the following day despite only four hours of sleep. My team had some rough situations toward the end, but we still won second place. I couldn’t be more proud of everyone in my group, or more grateful for all the people that gave me pep talks and supported me. Thank you for giving me amazing helpers and for making that week so enjoyable.

I only have five days left here, and I’m going to miss this so much. I will miss all the chants, the cheers, the dances, my fellow counselors, all my friends and my campers. Thank you for giving me such an amazing first year experience as a counselor. I really hope to see you again next summer.

Sunrise Day Camp, you truly are the best camp. Thank you for everything.