Going to sleep away camp is more than an experience. It’s an unreal, awe-inspiring trip to another world. A world where worries and parents disappear for enough time to stop holding your breath, and get away. As kids, young to teen years, there’s a lot to take in and carry on our shoulders: grades, stress, the stress of grades. During the summer, though, we don’t let that affect us. Sleep away camp is something that kids take with them forever, and the times we have there are priceless and unforgettable. Before I went to the remarkable place known as sleep away camp, I didn’t understand the fuss of my friends. Throughout the school year, they, and now I, constantly compare the hardships of school with the wild ride of summer camp. Like a jail compared to a field of daisies, school compared to camp, was considered.

The concept of camp is completely different than the usual school routine. When you first arrive, you settle in and start to come to the realization that the next month is going to be a swirl of laughs, song singing, and memories that last. You find your bunk, and meet the handful of kids you’ll come to know like family. You meet the counselors, the only authorities you’ll encounter for awhile. After a week has gone by, you’ve let the power of camp take you full force. You have accommodated to the bunk rules, the activities you attend daily, and so on. Camp is too much to describe: the sunrise, the sunset, the barbecues. When you’re under the stars with nothing but your friends and a bonfire, it’s magical. When you’re with your bunkmates, laying on your back, watching the clouds go by, claiming one looks like a rabbit, riding a dragon with a top hat, it’s magical. When you’re almost asleep in class, trying to learn something that won’t stick in your brain because your classroom’s strategy of learning itself is boring; isn’t so magical.

I have noticed that school experiences just don’t compare to the community of camp. Sure there’s my friends, funny memories in class, but where are the interesting experiences for education? That’s what I’ve been wondering. Why can’t school be more like camp? Camp isn’t all fun and games. It just seems that way. Everyday, we’re learning new things, whether it’s how to build a bonfire or how to find the square root of 6; learning is learning. Learning can be taught in a fun way. The difference between school and camp is that at camp, the learning is disguised with activities that teach us life lessons and skills. Skills like leadership, friendship, and responsibility.

Education is hidden in camp like children’s medicine hidden in ice cream. I remember a time in camp when we did a trust activity. All of the girls in our age group( about 35 of us) formed a “conga line” and were blindfolded. Only a counselor at the front of the line had eyesight. We had to rely solely on the person in front of us to lead us on a twisty trip around the camp grounds. We learned not only trust, but also that when you have friends you can trust, the world becomes a lot easier to face. We were taught not only that it is pretty funny to watch a line of confused kids be led in complicated circles all over the camp, but that was just the amusing cover.

Family is a big concept in camp. Family is the glue that keeps camp together. It is basically like a few hundred people in a family. Everyone knows everyone. It’s one of those places where every evening, everyone sings and puts their arms over each other’s shoulders, swaying to the tune of the song in one big chain of smiling faces and happiness, with no bad thoughts about tomorrow. You just know it’ll be amazing and no remorse about that day because you know you can’t deny that it was undeniably great.

So I am still confused and unsure why school couldn’t be made more enjoyable. The truth is, I don’t know if it ever will change or the skills used more frequently in life, will be reinforced at school. I wonder what would happen if someone considered making the way we learn, a little less torturous. Would it kill someone to experiment? Would it hurt to use fun? All I know is, that camp is something that involves a type of fun that is beyond compare. I know that in camp, I have laughed, cried, and even sweat. I would never exchange camp for anything. What I’ve done there is just too sacred and too special, to leave behind. It’s the ideal lifestyle, with reasonable rules and relatable authorities, a bunch of friends, all in a setting surrounded by pure nature. Sleep away camp is something that warms your soul and makes your heart grow.