What Would You Say?

 What would you say? What would you say if you had to tell a large crowd of people how to make the most of life? What would you say if you had to motivate a crowd to go out into the world and make it a better place? What would you say to close out the most fulfilling time of your life? Would you be sentiment, funny, hopeful? Maybe you have that feeling where you have so many ways to say something about how you feel, and yet you'll never be able to put it into words. This is a feeling that I experience every year, and I do believe a little backstory is needed to put this into perspective. So if you want to get into some deep thoughts, bear with me. 

For the past nine years I have attended 4-H Camp (yes the classic and ever so cliche summer camp). One may glimpse over summer camp as a place where the all you did was swim in the lake, sing cheesy songs, and complain about how the mean, old lunch lady never gave you enough mini corndogs (that last one I did a lot). But why do some people love it? The energy, the outdoors, the memories? The friendships that they make are important, but so are the catchy songs and dances you learn. Perhaps its sitting under the night sky and forgetting about life entirely as you immerse yourself in a maze of endless stars, stars so real you can pick out a helicopter pretending to be one of  the glimmering spectacles shinning in the distance with ease. What if I told you that all of these were right? What if I told you there was something else?

At the end of the week, the staff members of this very, special place on Earth that we call Camp, stand around a giant clover statue that we burn, not out of hate, but rather to signify our love for Camp. With candles in their hands, they emotionally share what camp means to them and why they come back year after year. But the staff members go beyond that by reflecting on how great the week was, how talented the kids are, and then encourage them to make the most of life (many tears are shed during this time). As a nine-year Camper and Counselor, I am finally focusing all of my efforts on applying for staff this year, which keeps putting me in the position of asking myself, what would I say?

So what would you say to sum up one of the greatest experiences of your life and put that into words? Sometimes its too hard to put an incredible experience with so many words to describe into words to actually say. However, we still want to say something. If you were in those shoes, what would you say?