Old Camper

I was a camper for 5 straight years and loved every second of it. It’s now been 6 years since I last set foot on the beautiful shores of Ida-Haven, since my last snow cone, since my last capture the flag, since my last rafting trip, and since I last hit the buzzer after “the beast.” Camp Ida-Haven has helped shape me as an adult and given me memories that I’ll cherish forever. It is where I learned that I actually am a talented artist, where I conquered my fear of heights, where I made life-long friends, where I learned to be more independent and to stop being so scared of the unknown.

I will always remember the morning before school, signing up for Camp with my mom, crying the year that I got wait-listed (but ended up getting in!), packing my bags for camp a month early because I was just so excited, racing to the registration tent to make sure I got the bed that I wanted, splitting an arrow in half during archery, learning that I was actually good at archery and love it, it’s still a hobby, loving white-water rafting so much that my husband and I go every year in New York, where we now live and finding God again.

~ Colleen Paulson (Coursey)