What defines the word home? Is it the place where you currently live, or is it the place in which you are most comfortable living? It’s a place of safety, a place where you can be yourself and a place where you and those around you can be happy. Manitou is home. For the past three-and-a-half weeks that I have spent with over 400 campers and staff, this place has really felt like my home.

It was sad to see so many campers leave – campers who, although they were happy to be going home and seeing their friends and families, still shed a tear when saying goodbye to a friend or a counselor. The first session of camp absolutely flew by. It felt like last week I was writing about how empty the camp felt without campers, and now I was already getting that feeling again. I chaperoned campers to Logan International airport last night and felt very empty after watching them take off. I was not looking forward to coming back into camp – a camp without campers.

To my delight, however, there were many second session campers in camp by the time I got back here. Some were playing basketball, others swimming in the lake, and others still unpacking. I can honestly say I felt like I was back home. Manitou is a wonderful place, and although it was sad saying goodbye to all the first session campers, seeing the excitement on the new campers’ faces made me realize that there is still half the summer left. Sure the first session flew by, but the positive is we still have three-and-a-half weeks to go.

Just look at all the amazing things we still get to do at camp. We still have 2 more weeks of College League including the Pres night. We have two more trip days, more bunk nights, camp fires, another play (Emory Eagles) and of course Color War. So what, to me, is the definition of home? It’s a place where you can have fun and be with friends and, most importantly, a place that just feels right. For 8 weeks of the year, it’s a place like Manitou and for three-and-a-half more weeks, Manitou will remain my home.