How has Camp Everytown affected your life now?
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It helped me remember that everyone has issues that they go through: it doesn’t matter what it is—they’re all hard to face. But every issue can be solved, especially if you have friends or family to be there for you. -Estefania Bautista

Camp Everytown makes me critical of my surroundings. It makes me question things in ways I never doubted before. For instance, after my first time at camp on the car ride home, I didn’t know what music to listen to, since most pop and hip-hop songs have very clear, very hurtful messages about gender. It also made me think deeply about the fact that everyone has a story, and many of our stories overlap. The hardship I am going through might be similar to someone sitting in the same room as me. We rarely open ourselves up to others deeply enough to realize that we are more connected than we know. -Mia Glasman

Camp Everytown has refined my eyes to how society shapes us through the media and our social norms. They’ve shown me that I’m actually never alone because even [if] I’m walking down the street “alone”, there’s always some random stranger that I can share the love with. -Aritz Bañuelos

It has opened my eyes and taught me that many others are in similar situations as I am and no one is ever truly alone. I feel a lot more comfortable and glad knowing that I will always have someone to lean on and that I can give a helping hand to anyone possible. -Joseph Phan

Camp Everytown brought me closer with a lot of people that I normally would never have met, and it made me realize how important it is to listen, care, and love, no matter who it is, because we’re all human: we all go through a lot in life, and sometimes the only/ best thing I can do to help people is being a listening ear or a shoulder to cry on. -Ariadne Rowe

Camp Everytown has made me proud of my generation. So many kids these days are unhappy with the world they live in and say that they have “lost faith in humanity.” What I saw happen at camp proved to me that there is still greatness in each of us. Everytown has given me hope that we will change the world for the better, and prove wrong everyone who expects to be disappointed. -Vlad Terson

Camp Everytown has made me burst out of my shell. I feel very confident to do things I used to over-think: talking to new people, and stepping out of my comfort zone. I think everyone should experience what I have and what my other family members did as well. -Bradley Logue

Camp really broadened my perspective on the people around me and has empowered me to make the changes that I want to see. -Sam Marks