The year ended as fast as it came and I needed something to do that summer. My mom and I decided to drop the Kid’s University thing because I was getting older and so were the classes. It was time to return to the summer camp. The second year, there were a few new kids. When they came, it was déjà vu. The same thing that happened to them was what happened to me the year before. I learned, on those first few days, that no matter how much you want to believe it, mean people don’t change easily. I remember what that summer was like. I had a lot more fun because of my newly gained popularity among my peers there. Though it was a great summer for me, there were growing tensions between people in the camp and the camp instructor. We had our annual sleepover which I had never done before. I remember though, the division of all the people during that summer. Though it was fun, it was a divided summer camp that year. It wouldn’t be until the next summer, the final major summer there, that all the tensions would be released and everyone would leave.

After the summer, not much happened. Fifth grade was mostly like fourth grade, but different. Nothing interesting came until the summer. That final major summer, I remember us thinking about aliens. Strange signs began appearing in the summer camp room that we interpreted in extremely bizarre ways. The lights, the darkness, the toy lightsabers, and the colors were what I remembered. That summer was also hard to forget. We all had to remember that with our entrance into middle school, this would be our last summer going there. The tensions that were beginning in the year before returned and were growing. What made it worse was the cancellation of the annual sleepover that we had all so diligently planned for. That final summer came and it went. Our last day was a day where we made final contact info. Then, with the new year beginning (and my new school, Davidson Fine Arts), we all went our separate ways.

The last time I visit the summer camp was actually a year after the final major summer. Lot’s had changed and there were only a few people that I remembered but most were kids I never talked to in years before. I had always kept in touch with Corbin and we had become great friends. Chris…Chris Flippo came with me to Davidson Fine Arts and since then, we’ve become great friends. It wasn’t until 7th grade that I met Michael again! I didn’t even know that Michael Lockwood came to Davidson and it was a big surprise. Also, he had kept in touch with Sean and I found out that Sean moved to South Carolina. Last but not least was Barbara whom I recently found out from Corbin had gone to ARC. I still don’t know what happened to Jacob, Derek, and Jordan though.

Every single person I listed in the paragraph above helped change me. Before, I had different views on life and human nature than I did before. I saw how mean people could really be and how people don’t easily change their ways. Sure, it may have been hard at first but I’m happier at what I’ve become now than what I could’ve been. Difference is the thing that brings variety. When I thought about those people at the beginning of my experiences, I saw them as the same mean people. Groups make people seem like they are the same. When I look back though, I could see big differences in their personalities. I made it through because I stuck to my differences and I tried to be myself. An original is always worth more than a copy, you know.