Emily Westmoreland

Think of your favorite place in the whole entire world. Is it your bed? The beach? Paris, France?

For me, it's camp.

Every year in the middle of July I pack up my things to go live in a little cabin with thirty other girls without air conditioning. You sweat the minute you step out of the shower. Well, lets face it, you sweat in the shower too.

It's located in Indian Springs State Park in Flovilla, Georgia. Never heard of it? Don't feel bad, I hadn't either and that's what makes it special. There is no cell phone service. That means no calling mom or your boyfriend and saying good bye to your ninety-seven day snapchat streak. It's amazing.

Being cut off from the rest of society might sound tragic in this century, but it is honestly the best feeling in the world. There is just something about being distant from the world that makes you feel so connected to it.

When was the last time you sat in front of a campfire at midnight in silence and listened to it crack and pop and felt it’s heat? How about the last time you walked through the woods and heard the sound of dry leaves crunching underneath your feet?

Doing these things makes you be still and discover what is important to you. For me, I always end up asking myself “What are you doing?” Yeah, I’m going to school. I’m getting a degree in marketing. I’m staying in shape and working out. But what am I doing to leave a legacy? To make an impact?

I realize that I get one shot. Around eighty years if I’m lucky. What am I doing today that is going to make a difference tomorrow? Each day I wake up and try to live every day full out. I strive to do my best in everything. I think that your relationships with others are the most important thing and you need to be connected with them face to face rather than on a cell phone.

This little disconntected camp in Flovilla, Georgia means so much to me because it has taught me more about how to live than any amount of school ever could. And that is why I love it.