With summer program registration opening, being posted all over online, and constant texts about them some of you are probably confused and wondering if you should really go. You might be thinking I’ve never been away from home, or I always go to camp. Trust me or anyone that tells you to go on CLTC, you can work it around when you go to camp, and the experience will be SO worth it even if you’re away from home for the first time. So many people are in a similar situation, and I was too about a year ago. 

I was always told “go on CLTC!” “It's the best 12 days of your life!”, and so I did. CLTC one 2022 was possibly some of the best memories, times, and experiences of my whole life. Then what? There’s always your Perlman summer, but with that being a full year away I was sort of lost. I didn’t want to lose these friendships and memories even if I only got to see these people once or twice a year at IC and future summer programs. 

When I asked multiple of my CLTC friends how long we had spent talking since CLTC none of them could even think of an estimate. This happened to the point that I stopped asking people to figure it out because it had gotten way too complicated. It has most likely been multiple days that I’ve spent on FaceTime with my CLTC friends, not to mention the amount of time texting, snapping, and dm'ing each other whenever we’re poster children. 

Now that we’ve gotten to the point of about 6 months after CLTC everything I hoped would happen is starting to fall into place. I’m making countless plans with friends. Pre- IC trips, concerts, and so much more that I am counting down the days for. Not to mention Perlman 2023, and IC in general. 

When it comes to IC I can’t even start to explain how excited I am to reunite with all of  my international friends from my CLTC. Truly one of the best parts of anything international is seeing everyone from your summer program. I want every teen to have this ability and amazing experience. It might make you a little nervous, but CLTC will turn out to be so much fun. Everyone is there to meet new people and create memories. Take it from anyone that you hear telling you to go onCLTC, and give it a shot.

I can confidently say that I have made some of my best friends that will last me a lifetime, and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for all of us.