Traveling to new and different places throughout life is so important. Travel allows for a new portrait to be painted in one’s heart. Certain places have an influence on people that enables them to learn valuable lessons about themselves and new ways for them to carve their path through life. I’ve gained valuable knowledge of who I want to be from a location that has a very special place in my heart and soul. Camp Y-Owasco has changed my life for the better.

Camp Y-Owasco – where the water shines brightly through the day, where the sun glimmers on the horizon in the evening, and where the stars glow throughout the magnificently beautiful night sky. Camp Y-Owasco is a summer camp in Owasco, New York, that I’ve been going to since I was eight years old. A gorgeous A-frame lodge stands strong in its center. It is protected by a waterfront with two docks and a safe area where campers can swim in the lake. There’s also a flagpole and an open athletic field where all-camp games are played. The property also has an amphitheater where we have our enormous campfires, sing goofy camp songs, and act out crazy skits.  

Although all of those aspects of camp are amazing, they were not what caused me to realize my most important life lesson. The true impact is influenced by the family you gain while bonding there together. Each week at camp, you are placed in a cabin with others and are considered a “tribe.” Almost all of the tribes are named after the Finger Lakes.

My lesson occurred when I was about 12 years old. My camp tribe name was “Cayuga.” Cayuga and another tribe called “Canadice” forged together to form what we referred to as a “super tribe.” On one of the last days of our week stay at camp, our four counselors began acting very strangely. They appeared to be mad at us, but most of us hardly noticed or didn’t give it too much thought. Little did we know, later that night all of our lives would be permanently impacted.

At 9:30 p.m., when the sun went down and it was completely dark, the true challenge began. Our counselors gathered the super tribe and told us how they were very mad at us for the way we had been behaving. As our punishment, we were instructed to strictly follow their directions. They first told us we weren’t allowed to speak or make any noises. Then we were told to grab our pillows, grab our blankets, and to line up and walk silently up a hill through the dark woods. After reaching the top of the hill, they made us set up beds on a tarp in the middle of the woods. Without speaking, we had to collect firewood and build a fire. If anyone spoke or made any sound, the counselors would take away all of the wood we had collected and make us start from the beginning. Once we completed the task, everyone was told to sit in silence at the fire. The four counselors walked away, deep into the woods. Then, they started calling each camper over, one by one.

At this point, many of us were terrified, not knowing what was happening further in the woods. We didn’t know what to think of it at all. When I was told to go to the counselors my heart began racing. They sat me down and then for exactly one minute got up in my face and aggressively insulted me in every way possible. After one minute was complete, they flipped the switch and went on to explain how all the insults in the world mean nothing. They told me that I could accomplish anything I put my mind to no matter what anybody might ever say against it. They taught me that I could follow my dreams of becoming a musician and everything else I’ve ever wanted to be. I learned that the discouraging comments people say didn’t matter. At that moment, my life was forever changed. Before that day, I was always afraid of what people thought about me and specifically what people thought and said regarding boys that would sing. I used to care about the names other kids would call me and their insults, but after this experience, no one could get in my way. 

After that summer, with my new found confidence, I picked up my first guitar and was put on a completely new path which enabled me to become who I am today. This is all thanks to the four counselors from Camp Y-Owasco. They passed down a tradition that had been passed down to them by their former counselors. This tradition led me to set my life goal: to inspire those around me with the passion I have for music. This lesson also pushed me to pursue my goal of becoming a counselor at the camp where they now call me by my own camp name, “Strings.”

Throughout my 10 summers at Camp Y-Owasco, I’ve continued to learn more about myself and what I am capable of doing to inspire others. It just goes to show that not every journey comes to an end. Some journeys develop into a lifetime experience. Understanding the impact that places have on one’s life is not truly possible until one experiences the influence themselves. Don’t be afraid to step out your own comfort zones and explore. F