LESLIE RECINOS
11th GRADE
COLLEGE ESSAY
I met my older sister Julia for the first time
at summer camp when I was 6 years old.
Summer camp was the best place on earth;
the place where your parents dropped you off because
school was over and there weren’t any day care centers
available; the place where you met a ton of new friends
you would brag about when school started; the place
where the lunch was ten times better than school lunch.
Most importantly, it was a place where you could meet
the most caring camp counselor ever.
My favorite counselor was Julia. Julia was
18 years old at the time and she was Hispanic, just like
me. She had light brown eyes and glorious long dark
brown hair that was down to her elbows. Unlike most
6-year-olds in my class, who looked up to their mothers
or celebrities like Hilary Duff, I looked up to Julia.
She was the older sister I never had. She knew how to
cheer me up, knew what my favorite candies were, and
what flavor Hot Pocket I ate every morning. She knew
anything and everything about me and took care of me
just as any older sister would.
But summers ended, and time flew by. Julia
no longer worked as a camp counselor, and I grew too
old to be a camper. A part of my heart broke but I soon
realized I could become a leader and be the Julia to
many other kids.
About three summers ago I started working
as a junior counselor for a Spanish Immersion Camp. I
barely knew my colors and fruits, and I was so nervous
the campers would know more Spanish than I did. I
was right. Every time I said a word incorrectly or with a
weird accent I was surrounded by strange faces, as if to
say “What is she even saying?”
HPAC Young Writers Review
One camper, Angela, taught me new words every day,
like piscina, which means pool, and cuerpo, which
means body. Angela was half-Asian, half-Hispanic
with short brown hair and a streak of pink on the left
side. I didn’t know everything about her but I knew the
important things, like she needed someone to sing “My
Favorite Things” from The Sound of Music with her to
calm her down, and I was always that person. She also
loved swimming, but only at the pool. She didn’t like
the way the seaweed felt against her skin at the lake.
Instead I’d sit with her in the sand, failing to make
sand castles.
On the last day of summer camp the
campers wrote me letters, compiled into a book. The
book was made of construction paper and the messages,
saying “I want to be just like you when I grow up,”
and “You’re the best!” touched my heart. I successfully made a powerful connection with the campers of
Group 5, not as another Julia but as myself, Leslie. It
killed me to leave them that day.
Many people, myself included, generally
believe that campers are to counselors as younger siblings
are to older siblings. Just as older siblings teach younger
siblings life essentials, counselors teach the campers many
things about becoming leaders. When camp first started,
I believed I wasn’t anything like Julia because I didn’t have
much experience as a leader or a role model. But that was
okay because I had 20 more role models, the campers of
Group 5 Spanish Immersion. I expected that I would be
the one to teach the campers many things about the world.
Instead, the campers taught me that the world works in
mysterious ways and that we shouldn’t underestimate the
knowledge of young children. I realized that learning not
only flows from older to younger, but also from younger
to older. I will never forget my first group of campers
and role models, Group 5, and the big impact they made
on my life to help me become the leader I am today.