Not to be too sappy, it’s something that affects everyone that goes there, and since Ben did one, I’ll do one too.

CTYI is, to the outside world, a place for stuck up people who think they know everything to get together and act better than everyone. To those in the know, however, it’s something a good bit more. I don’t like getting over-emotional, and I don’t talk about the soul of the place, but everyone that was there can understand that with or without describing its heart and soul, it’s the thing which makes most of us.

It’s where pale kids come to see if they can take their school life, being without many friends at all and being interested in learning, and since that’s obviously not gonna change, can it be made even more so. But that’s really not what happens. What happens is that someone who’s terrified of people of any kind can turn up, make some real, life long friends, and do things they never thought they’d be able to do. They can be true about whatever they are, especially if that’s something a lot of the world has a problem with, and they can be made so much better for it. It makes them a happier, better person. Sometimes it means they can be a cynical person, but be loved for it by the people who matter. It can mean so many things, but it means that it makes you the person that you’ll be for the rest of your life, and you’re happy with who you are.

That’s the real “magic” of the place. Whatever about other people loving you, you can be true to yourself completely, even if you start off in small increments. It’s the thing that everyone agrees on, but it just isn’t mentioned enough.

That’s all there is, really. I’m not important to the place, I don’t make it much better or worse or anything in between, or do anything special, like being a pirate, or a particularly generous photographer working pro bono, but it made me so much better, and so did all the people there. I thank everyone for that for the rest of my life.

I can’t say much more than that, and most won’t read this, but thank you all.

Colin.

P.S. Sorry this is cringe-tastic.