As summer gives way to fall, camp starts to feel a little farther away. The cabins are quiet, the wagons are covered, the trails look different, and campers and staff have returned to school, work, and routines at home. But this is also the time of year when we find ourselves thinking about why so many people return to Cheley summer after summer.
There are the obvious things to miss: days spent hiking, riding, backpacking, creating something in crafts, or trying a program for the first time. There are campfires, songs, meals around the table, and the people who quickly become part of everyday life. But when campers reflect on Cheley at the end of a term, it is often the experiences within those moments that stay with them—the friend who encouraged them through something difficult, the activity they never expected to love, the challenge that required more patience than they thought they had, or the quiet moment when they stopped to notice where they were.
During the final week of each term, campers have an opportunity to put some of that into words through the long-standing Cheley tradition of “What Camp Means to Me.” Their reflections are personal, and their answers are as varied as their summers. Some focus on friendship and belonging. Others write about independence, adventure, challenge, gratitude, or simply being more present.
Reading these reflections after camp has ended gives us a chance to hear the Cheley Experience in campers’ own words. A first-summer camper may notice something completely different from someone returning for a fourth or eighth summer. And sometimes, what camp means to someone changes as they do.
We couldn’t share every reflection from this summer, but the ones below offer a glimpse of the many reasons campers value their time at Cheley—and why, when another summer ends, so many are already thinking about coming back.
What Camp Means to Me
First Summer
Camp, to me, means the differentiation of everyday life. Physically and mentally being active for four weeks was a change for me, but it wasn’t a bad one at all. At Cheley, I get to make new friends and try new programs I’ve never done before, while eating great food, being within the boundaries of safety and respect, and making some of the best memories. Whether those experiences are challenges, grief, happiness, guilt, or even anger, they still build me up to the person I am in the present.
Second Summer
To me, camp means a lot of things. To returners, it means reconnecting with old friends and counselors and meeting new friends from lots of different places. To people new to camp, it means trying hiking for the first time or learning to ride a horse. And for everybody, old and new, it means having fun, which means different things for different people.
For a lot of people, it means just doing whatever programs sound fun. For some people, it means going for hard patches. But for me, I don’t think camp is about the destination or meeting with your parents and showing them what you did. I think it’s about the journey. It’s about making new friends, doing fun programs, and wondering why a counselor woke you up at 3:00 a.m. because you forgot you signed up for an EB hike. I think that you shouldn’t think about all of the patches you got, but the journey it took to get them.
Second Summer
What camp means to me is like a sunset. Opportunities are like the setting sun—you must reach up and grab them before they set. I have the gift of 27. Some I miss, some I see, but the prettiest ones are almost always the ones I was never supposed to see. The ones where you feel invisible, at peace, happy. I experience all these emotions at camp. I feel like this when I peak a mountain or meet somebody new. I believe camp means to me all the unexpected friendships, activities, and music, but most of all, a sunset so pretty it sweeps across the valley, casting its orange glow, the pink clouds moving across the cotton candy sky, the sinking sun warming my face. Camp means there are 27 days of unexpected sunsets—you’ll never know what the next one will look like.
Second Summer
Camp means a lot of different things to me. One of the many things is friendship. When at camp, I feel that it is a great opportunity to build your community and expand it more than you would otherwise at home. The next thing that camp means to me is the concept of adventure. Now, I know that “adventure” can mean a lot of different things to lots of different people. Adventure can mean getting outside, trying new things, exploring outside of your comfort zone, or maybe even just getting that view that you’ve been dreaming about for quite some time now.
For me, adventure means getting outside. I’ve always loved going outside, but here at camp, it means a whole lot more. I think we’ve all felt that one sensation on any activity, even if it’s not a hike, where you just stop, look around, and think, “Wow, I love this.” It could’ve just been the sparkle off that lake, the nice glow off your newly polished bowl, or that feeling when you hit a perfect bullseye. Whatever it was, that is adventure. And that is what camp means to me.
Third Summer
What camp means to me is challenges and exploration. My very first summer at Cheley started before my first day. I told my mom I wouldn’t make friends. I told her I wanted the entire Percy Jackson series. I claimed I’d read all day alone in my cabin. I didn’t touch a single book once. One night, as I lay in bed the night before program, I said I’d try horseback riding because my friend was doing it, so I signed up. That was the best decision I have ever made. Almost instantly, I fell deeply in love with horses. So much so that I’d ride every day the following year. This story shows that exploration can lead you to your absolute favorite people and activities.
What challenges help? What don’t? My answer is every challenge is needed to improve. My challenge I’ve faced at Cheley is admitting my wrongs. After facing this challenge over and over again, I’ve learned my lesson around this. Cheley has taught me to be willing to take the harder route, to live my life, and to be where my feet are.
Fourth Summer
What camp means to me is a question I’ve faced for four years. Every year, I’ll try to write it before, during, or even after camp. But the truth is, you can’t predict the future or rewrite the past. So, this year, I tried to take a different perspective. When you’re thinking of trying a new program, food, or even shower, you find a new purpose at camp. For me, it’s the people.
Over the years, I’ve found a love for hiking—from 9, to 13, to 51, to 95 miles. I’ve dedicated every trail and peak to my two best friends who didn’t come back to camp this year. When I think of them, I get reminded of the memories I’ve had at camp with them and how they helped me grow. That has helped me reach where I am today—not just in miles, but as a person. Camp to me is something important enough to have a reason to do it.
Fourth Summer
When I gave my What Camp Means to Me at Chapel last term, it hadn’t hit me yet that this is my last year at camp. But today, on the van ride back to LOP from my exchange at GTE, I cried the whole way. The thought of leaving my camp, and what feels like moving back home after this summer, stunned me.
These past four years, Cheley is what I waited and wished for. Camp is where I’ve learned I don’t need to be in control all the time; that my possessions are in no way connected to my happiness; that I can truly walk up anything and that it’s just a big rock; where I’ve learned to listen to the silence and hear the song of the earth; where I’ve become who I am and met all who I love. Camp and these mountains are—besides my dad—the greatest teachers of all. To me, camp is everything.
Fifth Summer
To me, camp is my favorite place, not because of the location, but because of the people. Camp, to me, is so much more than the hikes, mountain bikes, or rafting. It’s the place where friendships are built, where strangers become lifelong sisters, and where some of my favorite memories are made. Cheley has not only taught me safety and respect, but also to step outside my comfort zone in a way not possible at home or in the classroom. At camp, I have been given role models to look up to, younger sisters to encourage, and friendships that last long after the summer ends.
Every year, leaving camp is one of the hardest goodbyes because I’m not just leaving camp, I’m leaving the people who made Cheley feel like home. I come to camp for the people who end up becoming my family. Camp isn’t just a destination to me. It’s a sisterhood, a home away from home, and a piece of my heart I’ll carry with me wherever I go.
Eighth Summer
Camp is me. I am camp. Camp has shaped my entire life for the better. Ever since I was 9 years old, I have never stopped talking about how truly enchanting this place is. While I’m writing this, I am looking at the pink and purple hues surrounding the angelic mountains. In that pink is the love I feel for camp, my unit, my friends, and family. But the purple is something new. The purple is my future and the way the love I have is integrating with the future.
My first year, I told myself that I would be here for all of it—the good, the bad, the challenging—and trust me, I’ve seen it all. As it is my last year, I reflect on the things that have shaped my journey. The most rewarding and challenging experience I’ve had here is exchange. Exchange taught me how to be myself in ways I didn’t know—to have patience, share my love, and open up a lot more. I can even tell my 9-year-old self I was back in QB4 again, but as a CILT. I will forever be thankful for the unconditional love shown to me in many ways here. My whole heart belongs to Cheley.
