Past Directors are typically invited back for a weekend as a thank-you for all their hard work the previous year and to give them the opportunity to experience and appreciate Fish Camp while (finally!) having absolutely no responsibility whatsoever. When you get to the Director level in this organization, Fish Camp truly becomes a part of who you are so it's really nice to be able to come back, see it in action, and see how it's grown since you've let it go. This year we were invited back for a meal (I was hoping and crossing my fingers that it would be the chicken fingers and mashed potatoes - yum - but it twas not - bummer).
We started the day by visiting the new and improved Copeland. It is so nice. And so large. And so clean. Although I really miss the old Copeland and all the memories made there (singing 'Sweet Caroline' with the other Directors while mopping the floor after Yell Practice and having the Session G Rave), it was really cool to see the awesome improvements Lakeview is making to better equip Fish Camp!
After Copeland, we headed to the Cafeteria for a little taste of Lakeview's finest. It was chicken (surprise!) sandwiches and just as delicious as I remembered. We saw some familiar Lakeview staff, fulfilled our long-standing craving with a little Iceberry Blue, and even fielded a question from a freshman! (I love feeling needed...)
Lakeview cafeteria. Oh how I will miss your chicken strips and mashed potatoes...
Next we went to the Staff House where we recalled all the fabulous (and not-so-fabulous) memories we spent all of last year making there. Between the three or four different trips we took to LV as Directors (not to mention the entire month that we all lived there last summer), that little cabin proves to be quite the nostalgia bank.
Mine and Carrie's room from last year.
Our home last summer! Director Staff 2010, what up!
Because it wouldn't be us without also taking a stupid picture.
Next we travelled to all the different camp rooms. It was really cool seeing all the rooms that, albeit dirty and gross and cramped and often small, hold so much significance and love for me! I grew so much as a person and as a leader in these rooms. My life was changed in these rooms. And in each of these rooms I became a stronger and a better Aggie. Here are a few snapshots (I won't bore you with all) of the rooms:
We were all purple at one point! Pampell 07, Donnell 07, Byrd 07. Although the room was situated completely differently when we were purple counselors, it's where we all got our counselor start!
Staff 2009 blue chairs. Sharp 09, Brocksmith 09, Aikens 09. Uhh whoop!
Who knew when we set up our camproom as chairs so long ago that two years later we'd be coming back together as best friends and previous Directors?!
In the midst of visiting camp rooms and experiencing some serious nostalgia as well as engaging in copious amounts of picture taking, we stopped by Headquarters and ate an Icee Pop. Or two. Or for fatties like Tom, three! It was great to see some familiar faces and great to meet the new ones. We, as Directors, spent SO much time with CREW and got to know (and rely on!) last year's CREW so well. As with everything else, HQ send a flood of memories reeling back!
Icee Pops never taste as good as at Lakeview. I literally lived off of these last summer...
We spent a good majority of the rest of the afternoon hanging out in the Red Room talking to JLaw and Paige. (Yes, its so precious that mine and Tom's babies are now partners...). I think, besides being with my Directors/best friends, that seeing one of my precious first year counselors in action as a Chair of his own camp was one of the most special times of the whole day. You realize time has seriously flown by when you see the guy who, being that he had never been to camp as a <><, got lost going to the Cafeteria on Day One, and is now leading his counselors and freshmen like he was born to do it. Shout out to my counselor love, John Taylor: so proud of you and your awesome Camp Nussbaum!
Brocksmith + Sharp = Nussbaum
My baby is all grown up! (He'd probably like for me to stop calling him my baby sometime soon considering he's 21 and a Senior in college now...but nope! I knew him as a wee little freshman.)
Where all the magic happened. Camp Sharp love.
After watching some skits, roaming the grounds a bit more, and realizing yet again that we are now so old, we topped off our afternoon with a little perusal through and nap in Copeland. As Directors you tend to spend more time in Copeland than you would care to so, in spite of the fact that you associate Copeland with watching the same program 500 times, you end up finding it a very endearing and comforting place. It also holds a barrel of memories for us (karaoking on the stage, country dancing in the box, teaching my entire session a dance during the Welcome, and watching the freshmen truly come out of their shells and lead yells during Adjustments).
Here's to you, Copeland!
As the afternoon wrapped up, we said our goodbyes, gave the new Directors their gifts, and gave Lakeview our final farewell. As is tradition, we stopped at the sign on the way out to take picture #230483 - although this time with tears streaming down our faces (ok, maybe just mine and Carrie's...).
It was really hard coming back, especially being that it lacked the welcoming, loving, fully embracing experience I had so looked forward to since our departure last year. It was honestly quite disappointing and, with the exception of one or two people, a bit of a slap in the face. But I think, besides that, it was really good for us. I think it helped to push me into appreciating the fact that I don't need to come back anymore. Although I'm excited for the future of Fish Camp and all improvements they are making and will continue to make, I would much rather preserve my memory of Fish Camp and Lakeview as I know it now...with sweat soaked Copeland floors on Day Three, scorpions coming up through the shower drain in the back Staff House bathroom, the old rickety switchboard in the Sound Box that made for a fun guessing game when turning out the lights or on the sound, and the bumps in the road, now filled in, that provided for such a fun ride when you were lucky enough to ride shotgun with Jay on Rackety Blackety.
Of course I will always cherish Fish Camp and I will also hold so very dear all the friends who turned into family, the life lessons who made me who I am, and the memories I will take with me for the rest of my life. It's an odd feeling and an odd realization knowing you can never go back to something. But our limited time on Sunday just proved to show me that it's not about Lakeview as a physical place, because that is always changing. It's about holding on to five years of memories through friendships, pictures, and realizing how much an organization can truly change your life.
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