This summer, we’re excited to have a long-time member of our Keystone community writing blogs! Catherine D. hails from Ohio, and is a junior at Mount Holyoke College majoring in both English and Dance. She is a senior member of our counselor staff, working closely with our oldest leadership campers, and will be sharing her perspective throughout the season.
My mom and I love telling the same story as we approach the gates to camp each year. We were dropping off my brother at a nearby camp, and my 7 year-old self spoke up from the back of the car: “When do I get to go to camp?” Within minutes we found Keystone, called the office, and were receiving a tour from Page Lemel herself. On our long drive back to Jacksonville, I filled out my application for my first summer at camp. Little did I know, I would be returning to Keystone’s gates every summer for the next 13 years.
Despite my excitement, my first night at camp was a bit bumpy. After our traditional spaghetti dinner, we experienced one of Brevard’s trademark thunderstorms, which I had a substantial fear of at the time. To spare any vivid details, I’ll just say I truly put the “sick” in “homesick”, and my counselors helped me to change my bedsheets and get settled back in. Eventually the sun came out the next morning, and I had the time of my life for the next two weeks. I even got so swept up in camp that I only wrote one letter, which was to my brother, describing my first night in detail (with a drawing for emphasis of course).
I share this story not to worry parents about sending their child away for the first time, but to emphasize that, at any age, change is hard. Though I just turned 21 (at camp this week!), I still feel the same pre-camp jitters as that first night, even now when it feels like I’m returning home. I always worry about what’s different, what’s new, and if this summer will be as good as the last. And to my unbridled joy, it always is.
Camp has had some changes over this past year alone, such as our new (yet arguably old) campfire location and expanded dining hall. And we’ve been welcoming many new faces as first-year staff and campers arrive from all over the country and the world. But the change that I’m most nervous about involves my position this summer, for which I will be writing the Keystone blog posts. Though I hope to encapsulate some of every previous author’s wisdom and eloquence, I recognize that my voice is new to many parents, alumnae, and campers who read these. This is a significant shift for myself as well, taking on a new role to voice my camp experiences to a larger audience. This challenge is one that I am honored to take on, especially with the admiration and respect I hold for Keystone and all the hard-earned lessons camp has given me.
In shifting from camper to staff, I’ve begun to tune in to camp as its own entity as it lives and develops with us. During the two weeks of staff development and over this past first week of camp, I’ve noticed something very special about the air here. Not only is it sweet with mountain laurel blossoms and the bothersome remains of springtime pollen, but it’s crackling with anticipation; it’s almost as if camp itself knows what’s to come, as if its magic is revving up and ready to douse us in a brilliant summer. While walking the hills I hear echoes of giggling and singing campers as this special place prepares to hold the Keystone spirit once again. If I could bottle this feeling, I would! But I don’t have to, because despite my anxieties, despite all that morphs and shifts, that feeling is always here for me to return to, along with the piece of my being that forever resides in Keystone.
Though I have a history of uneasiness around change, camp is a fluid place that I’ve learned to not only grow in, but with. Every year the perimeter trees have grown taller, the Keystone community larger, and my heart fuller. I have gone from experiencing the magic of camp to helping upkeep it, and I couldn’t be more proud to do so. And now I am so excited to document and reflect on this magic as the weeks fly by. Summer 2024, I am ready for you!
