This issue you’ll see an article about registering for summer camps, and I have to say summer camp is probably the best thing that ever happened for me.

When I was in the fifth grade my friend invited me to an all girls camp in Mentone, Alabama for a week. We gave up cellphones, ipods, and cd players for a week of activities and bonfire sing alongs.

I was not your typical “outdoorsy” girl, but I loved Riverview Camp for Girls. I got to choose six activities. I took gymnastics, fun swim, Riverview Refinement, archery, tennis and dance.

During fun swim, we had the opportunity to head to the river and jump on the blob. It is truly what you imagine. You climb up a ladder and jump down onto the blob. You then scoot yourself to the end and another girl jumps down and you go flying. It was always a blast. Another favorite of mine was Riverview Refinement. They made little facials out of honey and some other parts of nature and you got to paint your nails, which came in handy during our dances.

During the nighttime activities, we would have two dances with local boy camps, McCallie and Laney.

I remember, as I got older, the dances became more serious to us, which in turn taught me all about makeup and dance moves that I didn’t know before. Being from a small town, I sometimes felt I was the last to learn the latest trends, but not at camp. My bunkmates were from the Westminster School in Atlanta. They knew all the coolest stuff. They were the girls who taught me how to “pop, lock and drop it.” They snuck in an Ipod and showed me all the moves. I thought it was so cool, and I of course showed it to all my friends when I got home. Those same girls could convince the counselors of anything. One of them convinced the counselor to buy her hair dye on her night out. I couldn’t wait to watch; my mom wouldn’t let me dye my hair. They showed me their makeup sets on the night of the dance and helped me braid my hair and straighten it.

One year for the dance, the whole cabin put together a dance to Jonas Brothers, “Burnin’ Up” and we performed it for the guys and girls camp… we were basically famous.

When I wasn’t dancing and learning about celebrity guys, I spent time in the mess hall. Whenever it was someone’s birthday, they got on the table and did a runway strut while we sang and banged our cups. Then every cabin would sing their chant, I specifically remember the beginning of Arapaho’s “We are the girls of Arapaho, we’re the girls you wanna know.”

After that, I would run off to the snack booth and get my usual oreo ice cream bar for dessert and coke to drink. Sometimes, I hoarded the snacks, so on trip day I could put them in my backpack.

During trip day, I went white water rafting down the Nantahala River and also the Ocoee. It was such a fun memory I convinced my parents to later take us on a family vacation there.

Camp was truly one of the most fun one-two weeks of my life. I encourage every parent to send their kids to camp, even if it’s just a day camp. They come home with friends and memories to last a lifetime; sometimes they even come home pop, lock and dropping it.