Bugs Are Icky But S'mores Are Great by Deepa Lakshmin
Deepa is a member of Girl Scout Ambassador Troop 01718 (Cumru Service Unit), a Senior at Governor Mifflin High in Shillington, and an intern for the VOICES section at the Reading Eagle. Below is an excerpt of her fond memories of camping as a Girl Scout. Click here to read Deepa's full account, which is reprinted with permission from the Reading Eagle.

 

As a first-grader on my first camping trip, I was scared of spiders, bees and nearly every type of insect imaginable. I hated camping - I liked air conditioning and electricity and did not appreciate sleeping in the "great outdoors." I believed the rumors about the "Shadywood" cabin being haunted and refused to walk by that site during the night. But above all, I hated the latrines - ugly outhouses that were built over a huge hole in the ground. They had no lighting or flushable toilets and often ran out of toilet paper.

... Camping was a significant part of my childhood ... I was extremely shy and had trouble making friends; through Girl Scouts and Wood Haven, I made many long-lasting friendships ... I kept returning to Wood Haven until seventh grade. I went from learning my way around only one site to understanding the entire campground.

My experiences at Camp Wood Haven are permanently engraved into my memory. I remember etching my name on the walls of the "pioneer" cabins, only to return the next year to find the doodles erased. There was even a girl ... who insisted on piercing her belly button and ears with a safety pin; she then offered me the still-bloody pin to pierce my own skin. Needless to say, I declined. There was a wacky dress-up day, during which I got in trouble for wearing my underwear outside of my pants. My counselors taught me how to make a cucumber-mayonnaise facial that unexpectedly caused my skin to break out. I never managed to hit the bull's eye during archery, but I always lost a few arrows. I overcame my fear of bugs and even picked up daddy-longleggers and picked their legs off. My fear of bees, however, still remains today.

Although I've stayed at other campsites before, Wood Haven has always been my favorite because it was the site of my first camping experience. In a way, I grew up there. In first grade, it was impossible for me to climb the rock wall or complete the ropes course. But by sixth grade, I had mastered all of those and then some. The last time I went camping was last summer at Camp Tohikanee, where I was able to scream my head off while riding a zipline through a forest. Though I am still very much a material girl, I have grown to appreciate the beauty of nature while camping.