camp anytown
here goes everything:
so on wednesday after school i was really excited to go but i realized there had been a mandatory meeting for those going the day before that i had missed because no one told me about it. i just packed what made sense to me. unfortunately i forgot a towel (why am i telling you this shit that doesnt matter... b/c it happened, thats why) and a sleeping bag and pillow. but i borrowed all of those things and it ended up being fine. i left my backpack wit all my school stuff in my locker b/c i didnt want to bring it with me. so back to wednesday, i was chilling on the grass with zak and dylan and we were having another one of my favorite conversations and then the bus pulled up. i didnt know anyone and ended up sitting next to this really nice girl named rashida and behind zoe and marlee who sare really cool. we watched hoop dreams and got stuck in traffic and all that so it was about a 2 hour drive i think. the movie was so boring and i just ended up talking with everyone. i didnt know what to expect and when we got there i was nervous b/c i had no friends. we got assigned our cabins and i got roomed with the following: staff member Moe who is the most down female saff member there lucky me. Amanda, Ashley Z. , Ashley C., Camille, Pauline who became my good friend, Jessica D. who is a beautiful woman, and Heidi who also became my good friend. The first night we discovered the topic of racism. a racial/ethnic group went outside and the rest of the kids made one list of stereotypes about this group. then the group came in, read the stereotypes and told us how they made them feel. it was really powerful. ( i think a lot of the things i say will sound lame, but you have to go to understand how strong the affect they have on people is) there were all grades, both genders, and multiple students from different races there. the food was incredible (we got fed meals 3 times a day with snacks every 1-2 hours between meals, it was so good!) i definitely am changed. i cant describe the emotional depth that camp anytown explores. we talk about racism, prejudice, sexism, sexual orientation discrimintaion, oursellves, our family, judgment and prejudgment, and eachother. i connected with so many people that i had never even seen at tam before. people i found intimidating turned out to be some of the kindest people i have encountered in my life so far. every single person there was beautiful and taught me something new. it gave me a chance to really evaluate myself and question the way i view others. a lot of people think racism and prejudice and sexism arent problems in the world today. a lot of people dont feel that they are at all judgmental or prejucide or racist. i didnt think so before i went to camp anytown. but the day that i got bakc i hung out with a group of people and i heard them say stereotypical and harmful phrases over and over angain and i kept telling them how much they hurt people. the jokes i have told and i have heard all of my life, i look at them now and see how hurtful they can be. they stereotypes we put on the opposite sex, the names we call people. this world lacks compassion, and so many people have their eyes shut. camp anytown truly opened mine. i am going to try so hard to bring back the things that i learned there, to share them with everyone. if anyone who reads this wants to know more about the things ive learned i would be so honored to share them with you, but you have to be open. people need to be willing to feel pain, to open the lines of communication we close everyday, to look prejudice in the face for how harsh it is, and most of all people need to empower themselves with the knowledge to change it. our generation can create peace. "if we live a life of peace we will have love, and love is the ultimate happiness."
peace.love.happiness. stop believing it, start living it.
so on wednesday after school i was really excited to go but i realized there had been a mandatory meeting for those going the day before that i had missed because no one told me about it. i just packed what made sense to me. unfortunately i forgot a towel (why am i telling you this shit that doesnt matter... b/c it happened, thats why) and a sleeping bag and pillow. but i borrowed all of those things and it ended up being fine. i left my backpack wit all my school stuff in my locker b/c i didnt want to bring it with me. so back to wednesday, i was chilling on the grass with zak and dylan and we were having another one of my favorite conversations and then the bus pulled up. i didnt know anyone and ended up sitting next to this really nice girl named rashida and behind zoe and marlee who sare really cool. we watched hoop dreams and got stuck in traffic and all that so it was about a 2 hour drive i think. the movie was so boring and i just ended up talking with everyone. i didnt know what to expect and when we got there i was nervous b/c i had no friends. we got assigned our cabins and i got roomed with the following: staff member Moe who is the most down female saff member there lucky me. Amanda, Ashley Z. , Ashley C., Camille, Pauline who became my good friend, Jessica D. who is a beautiful woman, and Heidi who also became my good friend. The first night we discovered the topic of racism. a racial/ethnic group went outside and the rest of the kids made one list of stereotypes about this group. then the group came in, read the stereotypes and told us how they made them feel. it was really powerful. ( i think a lot of the things i say will sound lame, but you have to go to understand how strong the affect they have on people is) there were all grades, both genders, and multiple students from different races there. the food was incredible (we got fed meals 3 times a day with snacks every 1-2 hours between meals, it was so good!) i definitely am changed. i cant describe the emotional depth that camp anytown explores. we talk about racism, prejudice, sexism, sexual orientation discrimintaion, oursellves, our family, judgment and prejudgment, and eachother. i connected with so many people that i had never even seen at tam before. people i found intimidating turned out to be some of the kindest people i have encountered in my life so far. every single person there was beautiful and taught me something new. it gave me a chance to really evaluate myself and question the way i view others. a lot of people think racism and prejudice and sexism arent problems in the world today. a lot of people dont feel that they are at all judgmental or prejucide or racist. i didnt think so before i went to camp anytown. but the day that i got bakc i hung out with a group of people and i heard them say stereotypical and harmful phrases over and over angain and i kept telling them how much they hurt people. the jokes i have told and i have heard all of my life, i look at them now and see how hurtful they can be. they stereotypes we put on the opposite sex, the names we call people. this world lacks compassion, and so many people have their eyes shut. camp anytown truly opened mine. i am going to try so hard to bring back the things that i learned there, to share them with everyone. if anyone who reads this wants to know more about the things ive learned i would be so honored to share them with you, but you have to be open. people need to be willing to feel pain, to open the lines of communication we close everyday, to look prejudice in the face for how harsh it is, and most of all people need to empower themselves with the knowledge to change it. our generation can create peace. "if we live a life of peace we will have love, and love is the ultimate happiness."
peace.love.happiness. stop believing it, start living it.