I miss RYLA already. I didn’t cry Thursday night when we did those warm fuzzy activities, but when we left camped yesterday I was crying. It was just so sad. When we arrived at camp I was the first bus and we could see a HUGE group of people wearing powder-baby-blue collared t-shirts RUNNING over to our bus cheering and screaming. They stood outside the entrance of our bus and they all had their hands up for high fives. And when we left yesterday in the buses the counselors were in a big group at the entrance cheering, screaming, and saying the RYLA chant. It was just like the first day. That really brought me to tears...seeing them there seeing us off. They care so much about us. we were greeted into camp with warm smiles and loud cheers, and we left camp with the same warm smiles and loud cheers only this time there was a feeling in every camper and every counselor’s heart that a difference had been made.

I love those counselors and I miss them already. I think I kind of miss the counselors more than the campers. Cuz I can always get in touch with the campers. All the counselors tell us they’ve kept in touch with all the good friends they made, and I plan to do the same thing...especially if I’ll see a lot of them cuz of DC. But it’s not like you just call up your counselor and ask to hang out. Cuz they’ve got college and careers and stuff. So there really isn’t opportunity to hang out with them which sucks cuz THEY were the ones that made the RYLA experience worth it. I LOVE YOU COUNSELORS!!!!!!!!!

RYLA is the best experience I’ve ever had in my life. It’s life changing...it really is. I’ve been gone for four and a half days and I feel like I’m a COMPLETELY different person. I can’t even explain how wonderful RYLA is. I’ve had friends tell me what an amazing experience ryla is, and how much you learn. But I never understood what was so "amazing" about it cuz I always thought it was just a leadership camp. But after going through ryla I know that you can’t totally explain it. it’s an experience like no other. and now I can’t even find the words to describe it. but I’ll try...

(my thoughts will be jumping all over the place so keep up). I have to give major props to the ryla counselors. They care about us so much. They want to see us improve and become better people. And they try their hardest to make us feel welcome, to make us feel comfortable, and to give us never-ending spirit. SS RYLA! SEA GALS! I love their dedication, their hard work, and their amazing personalities. They want us to have fun but during brother-sister cabin discussions we can see that they’re totally reaching out to us...they give us a chance to improve, they make us want to improve, and they genuinely care about us. I admire them so much, and I can’t wait to be a RYLA counselor. I want to have the same effect on campers as they had on us.

At Ryla everyone is equal. There are no high school cliques. The asian crowd, the black crowd, the white crowd, the nerd crowd...all that bullcrap doesn’t exist at ryla. It’s the best. At the dance you could dance with ANY group and no one would care. Who cares if you didn’t know anyone at that group? They didn’t care. it’s like at high school dances you stick with your friends. That’s who you dance with. But at ryla we’re all one big family. It’s great.

This past week I’ve gotten so comfortable around my SS RYLA (sea men and sea gals) family. I didn’t talk to all of them one-on-one, but I don’t need to. We all understand each other and we have this connection...an unbreakable connection. It’s amazing how much we opened up to each other. On Thursday night there were activities that gave us opportunities to express our feelings. At ryla you can openly tell your friends "I love you. Thanks for being there for me." And we can say this to people we’ve known for four days. But to friends we’ve known for YEARS we don’t say that unless it’s through a note, aim, or a yearbook. And we all hugged so many people we didn’t even know, but that was okay cuz we were all part of the RYLA family. And that’s one of the best things about ryla. Everyone is comfortable around everyone. There’s no hiding or holding back.

You can totally be yourself at RYLA. no one knows who you are, and you don't need to hide who you are. it's such a refreshing change from high school.

We became so close to each other in just four and a half days, and it would usually take me a year to form friendships like the ones i made at ryla.

That tursday night we learned that as a cabin family we are literally a universe. To quote my brother Darrell Tran, "No one is unimportant, insignificant, or unwanted. The bonding, the friendships, the kindness, and acknowledgement of importance in every single person – all these are a part of RYLA culture. They are what make RYLA the greatest place on Earth."

I don’t know what to do with my summer now that RYLA’s finished. I mean I have work, I have friends, and I have to start researching college...so I have all that to keep me busy, but all of that seems like nothing compared to RYLA. When doug told me ryla changed his life I always wondered how. Well now I know. My first three days at RYLA I was having a BLAST but I was still wondering how it was life-changing. It wasn’t until Thursday night when we all reflected on the past few days that I realized how much I had learned, grown, and changed. RYLA changes you in a gradual way but by the end of the week you’re a whole new person. I mean, I’ll still be the same person around my friends but now I have a whole new perspective on life. I’ll view every single thing differently because of RYLA...and it’s all for the better.

And now I have a second family. I got all my RYLA homies =D. I’m so excited for District Council next year cuz hopefully there’ll be a lot of people from RYLA, and that would be awesome. I’m glad I went to RYLA before starting my year as the new lt.gov cuz RYLA gives you a whole new outlook on life. And now I’m going into the district council with...god, I don’t even know how to explain what I have now that I didn’t have before. I have new leadership skills, I have new friends, I have a new perspective on life itself and different aspects of life...but I have something more than that. and I can’t explain it. but I don’t think I need to because I know I have it and I’ll never lose it...i’ll never forget it.

so there you go. i did the best i can to explain it, but i don't think words could ever capture the essence that IS ryla.

RYLA 2004!

*RYLA beach reunion July 17th*