Not long ago, I was in my German class drawing a blank about what to write about in this week’s column, and decided to ask my classmates what they thought I should write about. One of my more spirited classmates, Blake, suggested that I write about how summer camp is a lot like college. At first I thought it was silly, but then I saw his point.

For four years, I spent a month every summer at a camp in the beautiful mountains of Colorado. When I paused to look back at my experiences there and my experiences in college thus far, I saw many similarities and understood what Blake was talking about.

Before I even left for summer camp for the first time, I had a completely negative attitude. I got mad at my parents for sending me to “prison,” trying to get rid of me, and sending me so far away (at the time I lived in New Mexico). When my parents dropped me off at camp, I cried for hours. No one could console me. Every time I looked at something from home, I bawled. I felt so detached and far away from what I considered familiar. I didn’t even realize that this almost exactly matched how I felt when I was ready to leave for college until I started thinking about this article. I was angry that my parents would not let me stay near them, thus ending my total dependence on them. I did not want to be away from home, and when my parents said it was tough for them to let me go, I said to them, “At least you don’t have to move away from everything that is familiar and comforting to you!” When my parents dropped me off, I unpacked my things with tears in my eyes, and sobbed uncontrollably when they left. But with both camp and college, within hours I had made friends and almost forgotten about how much I missed my room at home, my parents, my dog, and everything that was familiar.

My room … oh, how I missed my room. When I went to camp, it was 14 girls, including myself, in a small cabin. No privacy, quiet, or room could be found. Sounds a lot like dorm life, doesn’t it? With the girls in my cabin, I’d stay awake for hours at night talking about silly things … when the counselor was out, that is. Just like at my school last year when we’d all be quiet until the Resident Advisor was out, then all hell would break loose. At camp, when we wanted to sneak out to see boys, it was almost impossible. It took a very covert operation to see a specimen of the opposite gender. Just like at college, where, depending on where you live, it’s illegal to have overnight “guests” and requires a lot of work to not get caught sneaking your boyfriend, who has spent the night, out of your room.

Speaking of breaking loose, that’s what camp and college are all about” being away from home, yet not really being completely on your own. While camp and college offer independence from home and exposure to new things, you know you’re never alone, which is a good feeling (sometimes). There is always someone there to keep you in line. Plus, there’s always something to do. At camp, it was games, arts and crafts, horseback riding, hiking, etc” at college, there are social organizations and sports to take part in to kill time.

While there is someone there to keep you in line, it’s not your mother. Which poses another problem ” I don’t know if everyone else has noticed this, but camp dining rooms and college dining rooms definitely aren’t your mother’s kitchen table. After a few weeks of camp food you’re ready to have some home cooked meal you might have taken for granted before you left home. A lot of times when I go home, I bring back what I call “mom food” to keep in my fridge for when I’ve had enough of food cooked by someone who’s not my mom!

So if you ever feel you don’t have the courage to face something new or difficult at college, think back to your days at summer camp (if you went!) and remember how you handled it then. With all of these similarities, surely you can draw experience from the good old days of camp.