The experiences I encountered in just six days at J Camp felt like they could easily encompass the space of an entire month.

Here are a few of the life lessons I picked up: you can’t plan your life so don’t try to; read read read; if the only thing you can do in life is help another then you have succeeded; and of course, don’t spank your kids. There’s another life lesson that I’ve gleaned, but being that this is a family friendly publication – and I don’t want to lose my 11 p.m. curfew – I’ll just have to tell you in person.

I’ve shared laughs with kids from Hawaii to New York and practically everywhere in between. I’ve experienced what life would be like in a prison cell (single window, high ceilings, and whitewashed walls). I also discovered the true definition of “humidity,” I’ve never actually had my hands get moist just by standing outside on a clear summer day.

And although I can’t help but think that being able to sleep in until noon and wearing non-blister-provoking shoes is a blessing I will never take for granted again, I would be lying if I said that I won’t feel a deep sense of loss when I board that plane tomorrow and leave for Champaign, Illinois.

I honestly came into this camp expecting to see a bunch of stereotypical Asian kids, sitting around learning how to take derivatives, discussing Newton’s third law, and figuring out of the molecular weight of elemental calcium. Instead what I saw was a mass of kids coming from diverse and interesting backgrounds, all really social, and all really cool to hang out with. I saw myself in a lot of them and definitely felt that if we all lived in the same podunk town together and went to the same high school that we could be friends.

My feelings about journalism have been reaffirmed. It is not an easy field, particularly now that the industry is facing some of its biggest challenges ever, but once you get into it the work that you can do is incredible. When Geoffrey Philp spoke about poetry and authors that have influence him he instilled in me his passion. Joie Chen, as she told us about being a minority but still pushing through, introduced to me to a new understanding of what it means to focus. Terri Agins exemplified commitment to me whilst she elaborated upon her glamorous career covering the fashion beat for the Wall Street Journal.

In the end- the humidity, the exhaustive days, and the mediocre dorm food- were all well worth it. (I’ll be a happy camper if I don’t see a hash brown for another two years). J Camp, the Miami edition, was still a blast. Thanks for the memories.

Top 6 Ways that the Online Team avoided writing:

1. Checking every 5 minutes to make sure all of our Facebook friends still exist
2. YouTube music video hunting. I just had to find a song with more cowbell than Blue Oyster Cult’s, “Don’t Fear the Reaper”
3. Sending e-mails to Brian Andrews and getting replies within 60 seconds
4. Making the J Camp Live! Banner
5. Pretending to write so that Chris would leave us alone. Alt-Tab was our best friend. (Makes the Microsoft Word window reappear).
6. Leaving pointless but much loved comments on my blog entries

–Shivani Khanna, J Camp Live! Staff Writer