The Greatest Experience

Every summer I come back a new person. More mature in my mind, body, and spirit. More focused on who it is I am and want to be. I become more confident in myself and capabilities that are within. There I learned how to truly be a leader, not in the since of just doing what is right and hoping people are following by example, but actually leading people every day for the full two months of the summer. Camp Mishawaka [mish-a-wak-a] is more than just a summer camp. It is an experience of a lifetime.

Every summer, for the past four years I had been attending a summer session at Camp Mishawaka. During my last session I was a Counselor In Training [CIT]. CIT's were the eldest of the campers, and were role models for the younger campers. As a CIT there were numerous responsibilities and duties we had. Just a few were things such as waking up early and singing to the girl, setting tables, conducting confidential meetings, being adventurous and daring. Also we have: lead a group on a hiking or canoeing trip. We CITs did all sorts of thing to make the camp experience even more fun than it was. By doing so we gained great trust of the campers and also counselors. People came to us for advice or just to talk to us when they needed someone to listen. Having such an experience changed me completely. I learned how to communicate with others, work as a team, and to be an overall leader and positive thinker.

The camp is located in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, about nine hours driving time, away from my home and family. The first time I attended, I only attended a two week session, but I soon increased that time to be a two month session. The thought of staying away from my brothers for such a long time had never crossed my mind. Going to college away from my family was something I always wanted, but I did not know if I could last. After amazing experiences at Camp Mishawaka, I will forever hold a life experience that I will never forget about. My CIT year really proved to me that I can have faith and support in my own goals in life. That I can be a strong leader and feel good about decisions I have made. Now I cannot wait to continue to put these great tools to use. I still to this day continue to keep in contact with almost everyone at the camp and I can call them and talk to them about anything I want. We are forever bonded together through our camp experience and we are grateful for that.