Day 1.

I am in a dorm room.

I just opened up my suitcase and took out my carefully rolled clothing. This is how I pack, rolling my clothes so I can jam as many of my possessions as possible into one bag. As if I would never see my favorite tank top again if I didn't get to bring it with me for this week away. I was able to shove not only clothes for a week, but also two blankets, a bed sheet, a pillow, a towel, full-sized blow dryer and five pairs of shoes in one bag. I was happy with that accomplishment.

I lined up my shoes underneath my bed. I made the bed, using my old college dorm room sheets. They are lined pink and green and gold and white and worn in from the many years of hauling them from my bed down to the basement washing machine once a week. Maybe once a month. It was enough to make them worn in, so the timing really doesn't matter much.

I put my clothes in unfamiliar, too-bulky drawers for my week's worth of clothing. Intimates in the top. Tank tops next. Then the thin, more fun t-shirts soon followed by the sporty t-shirts. Pants go on the bottom. Pants should always go on the bottom.

I'm in an unfamiliar room yet I'm in one of my most familiar states. I'm at a summer camp, and for most of my life this is what I did every single summer. I stayed in new dorm rooms. I carefully unrolled my clothing and put it in new drawers. I tried to look hip everyday. Whatever that meant. It definitely did not mean wearing Winnie the Pooh sweatshirts. Silly 7th grade. Silly camp kids.

This time is different, though. I didn't roll up in my parent's car with a sleeping bag stuffed in a garbage bag. I didn't shyly tell a stranger my name for my name tag, hoping my mom was nearby to make sure I was doing it right. I didn't walk into a funky smelling dorm room, afraid of who I was going to be spending a week scrunched between the same two walls with. I didn't carefully select my outfit weeks ahead of time. In fact I didn't 'select' my outfit at all, I just wore clothes today. Like every other day.

It's different because I am the one in charge. I've made the name tags. I've worked on the room assignments. I get the pleasure of a single room. I'm the face people are going to be looking towards if they are having a bad day, roommate problem, or crisis. I created the t-shirts. I got the internet code (which are hard to come by at camps.) I'm the adult.

I think this is going to be a whirlwind of a week. A whole new experience. A new era of my 'camp-going' days. The other volunteer 'staff' come tomorrow and the students arrive Sunday. I'll let you all know how it goes. :)