I can't believe how strange it is that one decision can change your life forever. When my mom asked me if I wanted to go to an overnight camp in Arkansas for two weeks I didn't know how to respond. As my doubts crept in, they were quickly defeated by my curiosity and sense of adventure. I decide to jump in not knowing what will happen and signed up within that same week.

When summer finally rolled around I realized that two weeks was a long time and I almost backed out. As we set out for the 12 hour car ride to camp, I imagined millions of scenarios in my head, mostly ranging from making some friends to falling down the cabin stairs in front of everyone. When we finally arrived, I became extremely nervous that they wouldn't like me or even worse, I wouldn't like anyone in my cabin. When I said my goodbyes and entered my cabin for the first time, I was shocked to find out that I was rooming with ten other girls. I immediately ran to claim bottom bunk because there was no way I was climbing up the stairs everyday to go to bed.

After awhile, my cabin started to file in one after the other. The first was Katie Beth who has gone to camp her whole life and even lived at camp for two years. Then came Jordan who, not to be mean, was "that person" in our cabin who made an effort to not connect with us at all. Next up was Rachel. She bust through our cabin door in an animal face shirt, her hair in a ponytail on the top her head like a genie, and cups of peanut butter in her arms. She immediately introduced herself as a stay over camper (someone who had already been at camp for the two previous weeks)and how this session she wasn't going for the FIT award. after that moment, I knew we would be best friends. Then came three other girls who bunked by me. Our counselors were energetic and excited to meet us. They wanted to go hangout but they said we were waiting for four more people, so we went to take a tour of camp with the one person who knows the camp inside and out because she lived there. We came back to find the last members of our new family for two weeks. Their names are Marika, Avery, Leighton, and Maggie.

They all gave me the scoop on camp lingo, what to do and not to do, and of course caught me up to speed on the daily routines of camp. As we made our way to our first dinner together, they sorted the "newbies" into one of the two ozark tribes. I became a mighty Osage, much better than the Caddo, and was given my first blue sweatband. Later we went to the opening tribal ceremonies where I heard the classic story of Lily White and the tribal conflicts between her and her love, which I saw as an Indian version of Romeo and Juliet since they both die in the end. After all the screaming and chanting of each tribe, I saw the big man himself, Sam the camp owner and his sidekick Super Dave.

The first few days I had to adjust to waking up extra early for breakfast, then right back to our cabin to change for tribal competition between certain cabin members of each tribe. The Osage were, of course, victorious almost everyday. At the end of the session the Osage overall score was a few points lower than the Caddo and we lost. After tribal competition, we had chill out for an hour to cool off from our entirely too competitive morning. I usually showered then took a quick power nap along with most of my cabin members.

After an active morning, the older cabins got together for our daily routine of a rotation at one of the many camp stations, a stop at the camp store for ice cream, then in small groups for bible study. When lunch finally came around, I don't think I have ever been so excited for food in my entire life. With gourmet meals every day, I looked forward to lunch during every activity. I remember walking into the chow hall feeling like I could eat anything in sight, which I usually did just about every meal. The hardest part of the day was walking back down the hill to our cabin without wiping out in front of everyone, something I also did just about every day.

My favorite parts of the day were Rest hour and Mish Mash because that is when we had real quality cabin bonding by crowding around one fan on the floor for air, reading through each other's letters especially the ones from boys, and hanging out all together at Mish Mash either floating in tubes on the water or playing put put with our counselors.

Finally, after a day packed with relaxation and food, we get to get ready for whatever the theme was for that night. As we put on our animal or "IM WITH AWESOME" shirts, you felt like this was completely normal to be wearing ridiculous outfits to not only dinner but also to a religious session before each event. At the end of the day, we get together as a cabin and have devotional or devo for short. That's when you put everything on the table about yourself and all the emotional bonds between everyone in the cabin become unbreakable.

On the last Friday, tribal competition is taken to a whole new level called Ultimate Solution where the entire camp is separated into the two tribes for a giant relay race throughout the entire camp. I can still remember my heart beating so fast I thought it was about to pop out of my chest as I saw the team before us finish and make their way over to where we were. As our event began I prayed to God I wouldn't drop the baton or fall. As the Osage gained a lead over the Caddo, I realized my turn was approaching and as expected, I dropped the baton on the hand off. I don't think I have run so fast in my life to hand it off to my teammate. For a second I almost thought that I should join track at school when I get back. I now realize that was a complete joke and I wasn't as fast as it seemed at the time. My legs felt like they didn't even touch the ground as I glided past the Caddo girl running beside me. When I got to the end and the baton was passed to the next group, I felt accomplished and sad at the same time because I realized that my time at camp was coming to an end.

When I woke up that last Saturday morning, my heart broke as realized I had to leave my new home, I started to cry because I didn't want to leave my new home. As the bus pulled off and I watched the camp sign begin to fade, I only had the hope of having another summer to get me through that year until this past summer when I returned and made many new friends and even greater memories.