Camp Belknap is an old-fashioned YMCA camp on the shores of Lake Winnipesaukee. It is a place where time seems not to pass. A place where phones are contraband, a place where real conversations develop. It is a place that revolves around hope, honor, respect and tradition. I came to this sacred when I was only nine years old. I like to think of myself as a brave nine-year-old for packing up my trunk and heading into the woods for ten days with my brother when I had never for a prolonged period of time been away from my parents. At Belknap, making friends is one of the easiest things ever. Yet, these friends as the years go on seem to disappear in a whisper. Unfortunately, at camp, you are only allowed to go from age nine to sixteen and after your last summer, …show more content…
This was every campers dream, and it was especially my older brothers pj's wish. I prayed every night that my brother would get chosen to come back the following summer, and soon the time came where all the campers gathered around the fire, and the director read off the names of the seniors that would be returning next year. He read Marcus Donnelly and the whole crowd went nuts; people were cheering and crying, and the director went on, he called, Ben Tessier and the same reaction occurred, and I was starting to tear up because I didn't know if the director was going to call my brothers name. The director read twenty-two more names before approaching the last one. At this point I was full on crying because I knew there wasn't a good chance that my brother's name would be called and thankfully, he called out, PJ Doherty, and I went berserk, it was the proudest and happiest moment of my life, I still get chills to this day. The thing that I love most about camp is that nothing ever changes. Of course each summer, new nine-year-olds would arrive but the principles of honor, respect and hope would live on,