10 years.

This year marked my 10th year at Saint Seraphim Camp, eight years as a camper and two years as a counselor. I can hardly believe that I've spent so much time here when I can still tell you an exact recap of my very first day at camp as a shy 10 year-old.

I've dedicated a decade of my life to this camp. Ten years of starting out as a shy little kid who used to sit on the porch of the mess hall after movie night and watch the older kids at the dance. Ten years of watching time fly as I became the older kid who played flags in the middle of the night.

Before we knew it, we weren't such little kids anymore and turned into counselors together. Counselors who put their heart and soul into their groups, hoping to be that counselor who made the kids fall in love with this place the way I did when I first came. I wanted to be the person that one girl in the back of the group looks up to for inspiration, who watches me when I'm not looking, reads about my journeys in life throughout the years and hopes to be like me when she grows up. Because when I was her age, worrying and thinking about going to high school, I remember going to camp and wanting to have the same grace, kindness and radiant hope that I saw in my counselors and still do today as I joined these incredible women in this role.

As I finally entered into the ranks of the oldest group, I sought comfort and advice from heart to heart talks around the campfire with my junior counselors on countless nights. Their advice, jokes, and love have stuck with me ever since then. I've always remembered their advice during hard times, and it's what kept me going. You never realize how much of an impact you can have until the roles are switched. Now it was my time to step up and be the role model to the girls that I had growing up in this camp.

Becoming a camp counselor has given me a different kind of joy. I now have memories of passing down my favorite traditions to girls of flags chants, playing flags together, teaching them strategies and watching them bond as a team. So the next day, when I saw their eyes light up as the sports directors announced, "the winners of Capture the Flag are THE GIRLS!" sent a rush of excitement through me as well. I felt the love as they all came running up to me in a group hug, laughing, yelling and celebrating. These are the types of moments that make my goal as a counselor complete.

This camp has given me so much to love in life, so much to hope and pray for and given me an anchor when I needed help. To this day, I'm still friends with the people who started going with me as little kids, even if we're far apart. My very first tentmate at camp became my best friend of nine years. As we all grew older, the good times weren't once a year, but now twice with St. Herman's Conference. The newer friends who squeezed 9 girls into one cabin and couldn't be separated were my roommates at as we made new memories in a different city every year. Because of Saint Seraphim's, I had another incredible retreat to attend in the winter.

We are so lucky to be given Camp Acahela as our home for the week. This territory has a type of beauty that is unique and stunning. There is so much for us to explore, to enjoy and to cherish. Some of the best weeks of my life have been spent hiding in the woods at night during capture the flag games, awkward moments at dance lessons and joining in on the Russian dance circle at the Friday night dance. Every last day tradition of eating our lunch as a group together one last time by the river has held a special spot in my heart.

The Law of God talks have inspired me to grow stronger in my spiritual life, the clergy have given me the best advice and answers to my questions and the church services give off a heartbreaking beauty that signals the end of the week. I wish everyone could experience and love this camp the way I do, because words will never be able to properly describe the feeling of coming home every year to one big Orthodox family.

I never thought that one week in summer 2009 would begin a decade long legacy, but that's the beauty of church camp. You never know how it can change your life until it happens. I can't imagine my life without summers there, and it's an honor to represent it as a counselor.