41
We had all fallen asleep in Nina and Rhadika’s room. Emily, Nina and I had altered to a dormant state on one bed. Abigail and Rhadika had fell asleep on the latter’s bed. The clock read six am.
Once the morning had brought attention to our still somewhat hibernating minds, Rhadika, Emily, Nina, Abigail and I all ran to the main lounge to find everyone missing. For a moment my mind invaded a panicked state. It wasn’t too long until I realized that everyone had gone off to Passionfruit for the last time. I ran to my room, shoved my keys into the doorknob with a harsh turn, and grabbed a bottle of Gatorade along with a beach towel. “Wait for me!” Rhadika yelled. Nina followed along with a similar plead. I hadn’t even slipped on my flip-flops.
As I passed Rhadika and Nina’s room I slammed my hand on their door. “Let’s get going!”
Emily came out of her room and so did Abigail. We all came with drinks as we walked out of our hall towards Passionfruit.
The rest of the day was quite uneventful. I returned to my hall to bring supplementary luggage out to the main lounge, shoving some extra clothes into any bag I could find. I also changed out of my pajamas into my CTY t-shirt and a pair of jeans. (I actually lost that shirt and I still want to cry about it). Then I ate breakfast at the HUB with Sarah Squared (two friends named Sarah: Sarah K was from a different hall and Sarah B was from my hall) and received the extra money from my ID card. (I had received $100 at the beginning of camp. In the end I had only $10 left. The Devil’s Den was not a place where I could combat my vigorous temptations. Shelves of chips and candy were exactly my deficiencies.)
After the morning passed by, I met Sarah K’s parents and said goodbye. Sarah B. and I both gave Sarah K. a hug. Sarah Squared both go to the same school so it wasn’t too much for them but I’m pretty sure that’s the last time I will ever see Sarah K. again. I’m not the type to miss people but still, hesitant tears almost brimmed my eyes as Sarah K. shot me some lame joke. Her sarcasm won’t be something I’ll ever forget. Neither will the times she’s made me lose oxygen from laughing too hard.
Next came for me to say a farewell to Sarah B. (I’m just going to refer to her as Sarah now.) We walked to the bottom of the HUB to return our books for five dollars in exchange and then walked out to meet Sarah’s mom. I introduced myself and we talked for a bit before I gave Sarah a hug as well. (This time I really wanted to cry but for some reason I couldn’t jam tears out of my eyes. Darn eyes!)
Following the awkward farewells I was now pretty much alone before I met up with some more friends. I received a call from Emily to meet her at our hall and there I walked. Nina, Rhadika, Abigail, Emily, and I all went to attend a showing of a heartfelt slideshow of pictures from camp all of which had no pictures of me in it. (Can you believe it?!) Rhadika’s mom took some nice pictures of us together before we wandered off to other random places. We walked to other halls to explore what they looked like and even visited another Quad far away from the Hub that accommodated boy halls. Let's just say that after witnessing the moldy cold tiles of their hall I was very grateful for the privileged carpet and closets that my hall was blessed with.
After that mostly everyone’s parents started to come. I lived closer than the other girls in my hall and yet my parents were the second to last ones to whisk me away from the last scraps of my summer. I was still unable to say good-bye to Dayna and Jin which was awfully disappointing. Once my parents arrived I gave more hugs to my RA Camille and another RA, Ellie. (Ellie was the RA of the hall a floor above us. Funny this is, I talked to Ellie more than my own RA. She’s a cool cucumber.)
Once my parents arrived they helped me load the rest of my paraphernalia into the car. CTY was an indescribable experience, and it parented probably one of the best summers I’ve ever had the honor to encounter. I made friends who really spoke to me and have made me wish I could be with them forever. CTY is full of odd and bizarre teenagers. However, CTY is also sort of a miracle, because CTY is a place where math geeks, Sherlock fanatics, punks, journalists, and even straight up hipsters come together as a whole. They converge with their own intellectually intriguing minds, and yet they all manage to dance synchronized to a 1970’s song grieving over Buddy Holly. After CTY most of the campers were soon self-diagnosed with Post-CTY depression. A very legitimate term concocted by the obsessive CTYers. CTY mothered geek-culture. Each obsessive camper worshipped The Hitchhicker's Guide to The Galaxy, memorizing every word of the bizarre book and every obsessive CTYer marked the days off of the calendar of when they would next arrive at Dickinson College.
One word to describe CTY would unquestionably be weird. But we’re all a little weird. And life is a little weird. But weirdness is what brings out the funny and quirky things of everyone. And everyone having that in common is what brings us together. Friendships grow and ideas sprout over different minds intertwining their vines. CTY gave me that understanding. And the funniest thing is that I started sobbing on the car ride home.