"On your first real day of camp, you take a 'before' picture. And later, they take an 'after' picture. This is my third summer here, but I'm still embarrassed standing there. You have to take off your shoes, socks, all the clothes you're wearing except your bathing suit, and they tell you how to pose in the special light. No one here is comfortable with the way they look in their bathing suit. We're all here for the same reason: to lose weight and come back to be with friends.
   At home, one boy made this nickname for me, Tomato, or something, because I was short and really round. It hurt, but I just kept it to myself. I thought that I was obese, and I'd look at myself in the mirror and I would upset myself. I was wearing a size 14 kids, and then I was an 11 junior in dresses, and that was kind of shocking. My parents were trying to help me and put me on a diet, but also I think they were embarrassed if I didn't look good in something—even more embarrassed than me.
   For me, it's better here. Everyone was nice and people weren't making fun of me. This summer, my doctor told me to lose only 10 pounds, and I have already lost it. I feel better now. I'm always running to the mirrors.
   My parents have my 'before' and 'after' pictures. When I get home and my parents say, look how thin you are, look how fat you were, and I think, now you think I look good because I lost my weight. My sister runs and sticks her 'after' picture on the refrigerator. My dad stuck mine there, too, but I took it off. I guess it's different for every camper. I don't want to believe that I look good now because I lost weight. I want to believe that I looked good all along. I just want to believe that."