Satori is a summer camp for young adults. It is fun, educational, and everything else our parents want in a program. But Satori to me is more than just a place to go for a week. It is more than three meals a day and an evening activity. It is the friends I make, the discussions I have, and how much I laugh. Satori, in a sense, is an experience more than anything else. The best part about this experience, however, is not that it happens once in a lifetime, but that it can occur as many times as we want it to, as many times as we choose to return. Director Mike Cantlon continues to return, even at a well-seasoned age.

Mike talks about what many people give back to the camp, year after year. It takes the greatest kind of human being to give a part of themselves without receiving anything in return. More than anything, we have all received something from the camp.

In total truthfulness, Satori gives something different to each and every person. Someone will meet friends that they’ll keep for the rest of their life, while another has found a place to be completely open and always feel safe. The more one returns, the more one experiences.

Some people can say that Satori has changed their life. It brought out something in them that completely altered the course of their life. While I am not sure that I can say this yet, I know that Satori has stirred something inside of me. It has instilled a need to stay true and original. New discussions and viewpoints have opened my eyes to things that I might not have even thought about. I am a better person simply because of the people I have known and the things I have heard.

To those who say that it is “just a camp,” I would answer with this quote: “The essence of intelligence is skill in extracting meaning from everyday experience.”