By Jacob Glickman, Head Songleader
As a child my favorite books to read were fantasy novels. I would often tell people, “the more knights, dragons, and wizards the better!” I vividly remember speeding through my assignments, for better or for worse (usually the latter), in order to pull out my book. Sometimes, I would even ask my parents to go to bed early so that I could get a head start on my reading for the night.
There was something about leaving the mundanity of my everyday the life—the spelling practice sheets, the chores, the perennial challenge of middle school social dynamics to find myself in a world where anything was possible. Where the partnership between dragon and rider was an unbreakable bond; where the most admirable people are those who treated others with honor and respect; and where the young boy who just discovered that he was capable of magic had a mentor seek him out because the mentor knew that he was capable of changing the world. This was the world I wish I lived in—and this is the world I found at Camp.
At camp the knights in shining armor came in the form of counselors; the mentors who live with you, show you your potential, and guide you in changing the world. The wizards here don’t use magic, but create mystifying experiences—the ones that we look at and say, “only at camp….” And unfortunately, dragons aren’t real, but the connections I’ve made with my camp-friends will last until my dying days.
We often talk about “The Magic of Camp”, as if it’s some tangible force that makes camp what it is. But I think the true magic of camp is merely that it isn’t magic– that what happens here is all 100% pure reality. The greatest gift camp gave me is that the fantasy world I once sought out as a child is a real place, a place I can now help create– a place we can all call home.