Farewell 2023

The buses as they pull out on Departure Day. The speech about your friend as she wins All Around Camper. “All for one and one for all” after Romaca Relay. Sitting in the audience as a young camper finds their confidence during Lip Sync. Besides Departure Day, all of the above events are happy moments, not sad ones…yet we cry every time.
If you’re reading this, know that it’s okay for your daughter to cry; her tears are proof that she isn’t complacently sleepwalking through the camp experience you’ve graciously provided her with. Throughout the winter, if your daughter loses sight of the confident girl she was on the Trashion Show runway or the fearless leader she is on her Dining Hall chair, remind her it’s cool to cry because it’s cool to care, to anxiously await a cycle of high highs - like the adrenaline of finally performing her Romrec DJ Jeff dance - and low lows - like the pit in her stomach once Olympics breaks out and she knows the end is near - and to feel, rather than to get sucked into a summer of neutrality, where she perfectly tows the line between enjoyable days at the beach followed by fun parties at night, where she’ll avoid becoming susceptible to caring about something deeper than the way others perceive her Instagram, or the resume builder that a summer internship could be.
If she ever doubts that the uncertain emotional roller coaster we call Romaca is worth it, as opposed to the consistency and certainty of summers, and life, outside of it, reiterate to her that complacency is not more chic than feeling, caring, crying, loving, and singing. Remind her how much she gained from showcasing her enthusiasm for the traditions she holds so dear and the love she has for the friends she met in her little corner of the sky. It would’ve been easier for her to spend her summer at home, emotionally static and sane, completing summer reading or training for soccer preseason. But when the choice comes between living a life of stability, neutrality, and complacency OR withstanding tears and heartbreak in exchange for the euphoria of songwriting and spiritwear, we’d choose the latter for her every time.
Romaca, you’re almost like being in love. Until 2024...