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Have you ever been in a stadium when your team scores? For a second, everyone jumps up together. Strangers hug. The whole crowd feels like one giant, happy team. There's a name for that feeling. A sociologist named Émile Durkheim called it collective effervescence. It's a fancy term for that huge rush of joy and togetherness you get when a group shares something big, all at once. Right now, it's happening in stadiums as nations cheer for their teams in the FIFA games. I think about this idea a lot. I first read about it in a book called The Anxious Generation, in a chapter about how humans need moments that feel bigger than everyday life. Moments like music, sports, celebrations, and campfires. These things pull us out of the ordinary and connect us to something larger than ourselves. But here's the catch: it only works if we're actually together, feeling the same thing, at the same time. That's exactly what happens at camp, all week long. It's the whole cabin screaming when they win the golden broom for cleanest cabin. It's the whole camp singing the same song around the campfire and getting chills at the same time. It's a full dining hall cheering because one camper turned another year older. These moments look small, but they're not. They're glue. They're what makes a group of strangers turn into a real community. That's the magic of camp. In just one week, kids get dozens of these moments. They experience big bursts of joy that no screen could ever create. And the best part? The feeling doesn't disappear when camp ends. It sticks with them, the same way people still feel proud weeks after their country wins a big game. So picture your camper this summer. Arms in the air. Voice a little hoarse from cheering. Totally caught up in something bigger than themselves, surrounded by people feeling it too. That's what I’m most looking forward to this summer! Stay cool out there! Carter Mahoney / Executive Director
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