I never really knew what I wanted to do with my life. I'm kind of indecisive when it comes to long term commitments and decisions that have the ability to change my life. Then one day a friend of mine asked me to come and work with her at a camp near her home in Elgin, Texas. I didn't really know what it was all about but I figured what the heck, if nothing else I would at least get a few community service hours out of it.
When I was told the ages of the people attending the camp I was intimidated because I was so much younger than everybody else that would be present during this week. This is a normal camp that one might attend a week during the summer though; this is a camp for adults. The people who attend this camp have mental defects, which caused learning, emotional, and physical problems for them.
Kids playing in a lake at a church camp
Adapted from Wikipedia's TX county maps by Seth Il...
Wanted (2008 film)Some of the people there have very rare or even unknown diseases- the doctors could not identify a few of the problems with some of our retreaters. Others there have more common diseases such as Downs Syndrome, Whites, and the X Chromosome defect. As soon as I found out who would be attending the camp I started to fell a bit superior, me being regular and all. I didn't have any mental handicaps so I must have been superior, right? Well I was wrong and quickly got over my feeling of superiority and feel in love with this unique camp. It was a safe haven for me. Somewhere where I could go but yet not feel society's pressure of conforming to a specific group. The best feeling in the world is when someone believes you to be the smartest person...