Now, don't take the above title as a bitter remark. Because, in a way, CTY is always home. However, as of this moment, I am weeks away from my last 3 weeks at CTY. And I'm OK with that. A friend of mine, Keara Czarnecki, commented, "One needs to experience CTY and then learn to separate the lessons learned there from the experience, and apply those lessons elsewhere instead of becoming obsessive and reclusive in a CTY lifestyle. We all get depressed, we all find close friends at CTY, we all have problems with our parents and finding our identities -- and for us gifted kids, it always seems a much harder road. I value what people from CTY have given me and helped me learn; but I could never stagnate in a CTY group."
A very healthy opinion, as I'm beginning to realize. CTY will always be a sweet, happy memory for me. And I can always look to CTYers for an escape from normalcy. But I have also realized that CTY gives us anti-social, "abnormal", intellectual teens the skills we need to outgrow it. I personally entered CTY with...no social skills. None whatsoever. It was impressive. And during my first 2 sessions, I talked to maybe 9 people. Then, thanks to Becca, an awesome fellow techie and crazy individual, I met a fantastic bunch of people who embraced me and allowed me to open up and change.
3 years later...here I am. A pretty social human being, an "energetic force", a "sexy redheaded duct tape wench", a hardcore floor crew techie (who is pretty savvy in other technical areas now), Passionfruit Empress. I've gotten a lot out of the CTY experience. It has been priceless. But now I guess it's time to move on. Not from the people, but the place. CTY is done with me. And I'm done with it.
P.S. Having just returned from my last session of CTY as a student, I still hold to the above statement. It's been a week now, and the last time I cried was for about five minutes during the last dance. During Dancing Queen, of all things. So, my mourning period was brief, to say the least. I haven't cried since, and I don't think I will. Not about CTY. I'm too busy remembering what a blast I had to be mopey about it. And, I hate to say it, but my mother was right. CTY is a bit like Neverneverland. Goodbye CTY. |
