I walked through the doors on my first day of camp into a room full of kids who all seemed to know each other. I felt the nerves take over and a pit in my stomach as they called out what classes we were going to be in and shuffled us to our designated rooms. I had spent weeks, maybe even months, trying to convince my ever-loving football family to “please… please… please” let me go to theatre camp. The thoughts of “maybe I made a mistake” and “maybe I don’t belong here”, fluttered through my brain as I began to feel queasy. I was sitting in the back of the room beside a girl with big curly blonde hair, when she leaned over and introduced herself. “Is it your first time?” she exclaimed with glee! I responded “yes” while nodding nervously. “Don’t worry this is my 3rd year here, you’re going to love it!”. I felt a sense of ease wash over my body as she introduced me to more of the friends she had picked up in her various years at the camp. I began to see a pattern, people don’t just come here once, there’s a community here. Before long, the curly haired girl and I were inseparable. We ate lunch together, had huge laughs together and even signed each other’s shirts on the last day before parting ways. I had so much fun and I begged my mom to let me come back year after year. Theatre camp became a part of my summer and a part of what crafted my confidence growing up.
