Loving Your Ground Research Paper

Loving Your Ground
Growing up, I was always the odd one out. With my almond eyes and olive skin, I was an alien compared to the rest of my family with their blue eyes and dirty blonde hair. Although I would always tell myself that I am no different than everyone else, I was and I knew it. As I got older, I constantly denied myself from accepting who I really was which caused so much doubt and distress, even anger. More confused than ever, I turned to God, my friends and my family to help me on my journey of self acceptance, where, in the end, I learned to love who I am and love my ground.
When I was younger, these differences never really phased me. I knew I was different- ”unique” as my preschool teacher would put it. I didn’t care let alone

It was a struggle at first, but each day I started to recognize the beauty in my differences and in my flaws. Summer going into freshman year, I attended a summer camp called Camp Henry. It is located in Newaygo, about 40 minutes north of Grand Rapids on a small lake called Lake Kimball. At first I was unsure about going for I thought I’d get homesick, but it turned out to be one of the best experiences of my life. Their theme for the summer was “Love Your Ground”, where every activity or story told would relate back to loving where you stand no matter what which was pretty appropriate for my situation. There, I made new friends, learned how to wakeboard, ate plenty of s’mores, and most importantly, learned to love my ground. Camp Henry is so amazing in that every counsellor and staff member went out of their way to make each and every camper feel loved, wanted, and accepted. Those seven days transformed me from the sad and confused person that I was into the happy, compassionate person I am today. I left Camp Henry feeling loved and finally feeling accepted for who I