My First Time At Camp
Max Lanzendorf
My heart was pounding with excitement and fear as I got off the cramped and gross camp bus whilst avoiding the throw-up, and took a deep breath of fresh air. It was my first time being away from home without my parents; it was also my first time at a sleepaway camp.
I was directed over to the sign-in tables next to the dining hall. I walked past the kittens. They were so cute it made me hope I got put on kitten chore. From there I was led to the group of tents that I would be sharing with everyone else in my group. We went around, shared our names, and then went to the main camp area to eat dinner. Dinner was amazing, we had meat from the farm and vegetables from the garden. I remember my mouth watering every night at dinner because the food was so good.
After dinner, the camp director made some announcements including the chores list, and I got assigned to the kitten chore! I was really excited that I got to hang out with the Kittens. We went back to our groups and got to know each other more. After that in order to lull us to sleep, one of my counselors read us a horror story.
Now when I look back on that first day, I am surprised that I didn’t hate camp because I really hate horror. I even got scared watching Zootopia when I was younger. I think that maybe this experience helped me be a little bit braver. I actually ended up liking the horror stories my counselor read every night and I thought they were cool.
The next morning, we woke up and we got to go to our chores for the first time. At my chore, I got to meet the kittens, and I learned how to take care of them. I learned how to scoop their litter, feed them, and I got to hang out with them. The cat’s names were Moo, Curtis, Mr. Shark, Tiger, and Luna. Both Moo and Tiger were really energetic, whenever we played with them they would climb on the mesh. Curtis and Luna were both really calm, and more like cats. But Moo was half dog or something.
For the rest of my time at camp, I got to run around, make new friends, build forts, hit friends with sticks, and catch frogs. I built bridges while I was there, figuratively and literally, because while I was there I learned how to work in a team while I helped build a footbridge. It was one of the first times I helped build a major project with a group of people. One day at camp I felt really homesick but my counselors helped me get through it. In fact, my counselors helped me learn a lot of skills and helped me with personal growth. For example, one of them taught me how to use a kendama. They also helped me be braver.
Everything was good until I learned that I could adopt a kitten after the summer. I instantly sat down and wrote a persuasive, convincing, masterful letter to my parents. It read, “Can I get Moo the cat I have experience”. My skillfully worded letter worked and my parents decided that I could get Moo. However, when we applied to adopt Moo, the people at the shelter said that Moo would be lonely so they also told us to adopt Curtis. I was surprised because, at camp, Curtis was the most popular kitten, and I thought she was going to be adopted quickly.
However, I learned that the adoption process wasn’t quick at all. It took several months and we had to get a referral from another cat owner. However, when we finally got to take the kittens home, they pooped in the car. So we had to drive home for three hours in a poop smelling car, but we got them home and cleaned them up. When we got home Curtis hid for days in a cat tree we got them. But Moo was really sociable and would rub against our legs all the time. Once they grew more accustomed to us and each other Curtis came out of the cat tree. And Moo and Curtis would snuggle. I think Curtis felt that she needed to protect Moo because Curtis was older. After a while I learned I was allergic to cats however we kept Moo and Curtis because they were so cute and we still have them to this day.
