My Experience That Changed Me I went to camp for the first time last summer to
get away from the pressures of home and school. Camp was a month long, I have
never been away from my parents more than a week. I was very anxious. I had no
idea what situations to expect and how I would handle them. I started to really
wonder about my life. The way it was going was not the best for me. I can “run
away” from my reality, but I know that I was going to have to come back to it
in a month. The way I treat people was total opposite from how I treated my
parents. What my friends were capable of doing was not a bit close to what my
parents would let me do, my parents are very narrow minded. My grandparents were
even more severe, my culture is different from my friends and it’s hard for me
to understand and accept it. What my parents expect from me is much higher then
what other parents require from kids my age. I have more responsibilities at
home and of course I have school responsibilities to go along with it as well.
Since my parents didn’t let me do the things I insisted to do, I became quite
rebellious. I would answer back to them, not pay attention and not do the things
they wanted me to. I needed a new ways of handling things at home, I thought
nobody or anything can help me. I couldn’t wait to leave. After one week, camp
was not great anymore, all of my bunk mates felt the same way. Everything little
thing anyone would do, got to be so aggravating. We really started having
problems from the first day of camp. A girl in my bunk named Jenna did not get
to be in the bunk she wanted to be in. She decided to handle the situation by
giving everyone a hard time as well as a bad attitude. The way she talked to the
counselor, reminded me how I treated my parents. My counselor Jody never did
anything to Jenna. The first day of camp she told the counselor “If you
don’t change me from this bunk I'll hate you” Jody just said “For saying
that to me I won’t change you from the bunk you want” “It doesn’t matter
what you say to me because no matter what I will get what I want. You don’t
know what I can do!” said Jenna back to her. She ran to her friend’s bunk,
Jody didn’t want to make it a big complication out of it so she didn’t worry
about it. She never got her bunk changed, but it didn’t matter because she
would always sleep over her friends’ bunk. I wanted to relax this summer and
was not going to let someone give me a hard time, so we never talked much. Two
weeks were nearly over and our parents were going to come visit us in a day or
two. I started to be nice to Jenna and she was nice to me, but I sensed that she
didn’t want to be friends. She had a problem with my friend Lauren. At this
time we were all ready to kill each other. I remember an argument that Jenna had
with Lauren, they were yelling at each other and it only got worse by the
second. I came up to them and started to hear what they were saying, since I was
on lauren’s side, I yelled at Jenna “What is wrong with you!” “You
can’t yell at me like that, you don’t know who I am!” said Jenna Then I
said “I don’t care who you are” “I can make your life miserable"
she said. At this point I was thinking to myself that this girl has major
problems thinking she can do and say whatever she wants. I started to feel sorry
for her. “I wanna see you try” I then said, slamming the door. Even though
we weren’t on everyone good’s side I still cared for her. They were fighting
because Lauren told Jenna she was wrong and that she was spreading a rumor.
Jenna is one of those people who think everything they do and say is right no
matter what. I talked to Jenna later that day and told her I know it was not any
of my business but I had to make it mine because she was doing was wrong. This
fight was between lauren and Jenna. Jenna was bringing all her friends against
lauren, making her feel bad, which is not right. Lauren was about to end the
fight, which would have been the right thing to do. She never had anything
against me until I spoke to her with an attitude. “No one ever does that”
she said. “No one ever talks to me like that either” . Then I decided to be
the mature one and say I’m sorry. She accepted it and said sorry as well. I
talked to Lauren and told her I had a talk with Jenna. I told her everything we
both said. She told me that I was just as immature as Jenna when I said the same
thing back to her. I was confused I didn’t get her at first and was offended.
I then left the room and wanted to be alone. I started thinking and I realized I
was like her. The way she acted and presented her self was the way I was at
times. I was very upset, I have to change. Changing was not an easy process that
happens from one day to the next. I came to camp with some friends from school,
Lauren and Jessie were the ones who helped me realize all these things about
myself. I was wondering how my parents must feel when we fight and what they are
going through. No one’s life is or near to perfect. I was not the only one
with these problems. Their are kids with even worse problems then me and I was
glad I am not alone. Before going to camp fighting with my parents was be
something I did regularly. I didn’t like to fight with them. I never thought
it was my fault, so I never apologized. Their ways of thinking are very
different from mine. Now I’ll listen to them and understand that maybe I could
be wrong. I am old enough to make my own decisions and handle my own
consequences. I went through a big change over the summer. My experience at camp
helped me realize I have to see things from the perspective of others.
Nobody’s life is easy. Dealing with different types of people at camp was not
easy. I also learned that their is no reason to get angry over something so
little. I’d rather use up my energy for something productive. Camp helped me
become a better person.