Director Jud's Blog

Hi, my name is Mirena Medina. I have been going Stone Mountain Adventures for four years and I am ecstatic to be spending my fifth and last summer at such a wonderful place. I can say with 100% conviction that Stone Mountain Adventures Teen Summer Camp is my favorite place on Earth. And when my camper experience was coming to an end and I found out there was an opportunity for me to return, there was no way I was not going to jump at that opportunity.

There are so many reasons I decided to ask Jud to return to camp for one
 last year of fun and memories. The biggest reason why was because I could not imagine myself sitting at home this summer hanging out with friends from school, when the only place I could imagine myself during the summer is sitting with friends at Donation Rocks or Raystown Lake. It is not the specific places that make camp so appealing, but it is the memories and potential they hold. To spend my days at a mall or sitting at home watching movies does not sound appealing what so ever, when the opportunity to make once in a lifetime memories is right in front of me.  Every time I sprint to the big, white numbered vans I know that I have hours of laughs and smiles ahead of me.

The simple fact that a van can bring so many people such nostalgia and joy is truly extraordinary. I also want to return this summer because if the opportunity to meet so many amazing people, with so many different and unique backgrounds, is offered to me than who am I to deny it? Stone Mountain Adventures Wakeboarding Summer Camp has people who come from all corners of the Earth, from England to New Zealand. The relationships I have made, and the ones I have yet to make, will surely last a lifetime. The fact that I am spending a week in England with someone I met at Stone Mountain Adventures Summer Camp for Teens just goes to show how strong the bonds made here at camp truly are. 

The friendships made at camp are like no other. Of course I have best friends at home. The friends I have known since grade school, the ones who I see every day at school, and laugh with during lunch. These are my best friends. But let me guarantee you that very few of my friends at home compare to any of my camp friends. Spending weeks on end with a group of people day in and day out really forces you to let down your walls and really be your self. These people who see you every morning at breakfast, blurry-eyed, decked out in your comfiest pajamas and give you hugs goodnight, every single night, are the ones who really get to know the true you. And while not every person at camp becomes your best friend for life, you really get to know every single camper and counselor on a level at which you feel comfortable with them no matter what.  Every year when I return to camp to spend weeks with people I have not seen in months, it is unbelievably easy to pick up right where we left off.  and if anyone unfamiliar with the camp dynamic was to come on any opening day, they would be unable to tell that half of the camper had not seen each other in almost a year. And while not all of these relationships I have made over the years will last forever, I am totally confident saying that any person I attended camp with is a true friend and I would be more than comfortable to just pick up where ever we left off.  If you can tell I really do love SMA Teen Horseback Riding Summer Camp!

Part 2 coming later this week!