Songs, skits and squaredances
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From the moment I heard about Camp America I was hooked, I HAD to go. I wanted to spend my summer before I started university doing something completely unique. This is my personal experience of pushing my boundaries, losing my inhibitions and exploring the craziest camp traditions.
After an hour and a half of driving into the wilderness away from the bright lights of Boston we arrived at camp. It was the first year that the camp had been opened and when we arrived it was far from complete. During a week of “staff training” we built cabins, cut trees, designed projects, painted buildings and basically constructed the place. The staff were all strangers to one another initially, however there was no time for insecurities as we had to throw ourselves into the experience and there really was a real family bond between us all within one week.
I was a counsellor at a Christian camp organised by the Diocese of Massachusetts. I spent the morning helping in sports activities, playing basketball and dodgeball, both of which I had to be taught by the American staff and campers with hilarious consequences. Mealtimes provided much entertainment. I’ve never seen children so confused as when I began to eat chips with a fork, or when I asked someone to pass the jug of squash instead of the pitcher of juice - this seemed alien to them.
After lunch, we would spend the afternoon doing activities such as swimming, Bible games, arts, high ropes course, hikes, water sports and field sports. The evening activities were comprised of campfires, Olympics, luau, water carnivals (which unintentionally turned into mud fights and getting all the counsellors covered with water and shaving cream), square dances and talent shows which often involved singing and dancing to Spice Girls and Backstreet Boys and telling jokes such as do you know what’s intense? - Camping!
Wild West Wednesday and funky Friday were fun days when all the staff and kids were in fancy dress clothes; and the day’s activities and food are related to these themes also. The good thing was having a new group of children every week, so I met hundreds of kids from really diverse backgrounds throughout the 7 weeks.
The day the camp ended was one of the saddest moments of my life. With tears streaming down my face I hugged and waved the staff and children goodbye. However, it was not the end of my experiences With other counsellors, we embarked upon a jam-packed itinerary of travelling the USA. The highlights of our tour included watching the Red Sox at Fenway Park, viewing fireworks over Niagara falls, listening to jazz in Chicago, seeing Graceland in Memphis, seeing where Martin Luther King Jnr completed his I have a dream speech on the National Mall in Washington DC, the Statue of Liberty, Ground Zero, sunbathing in Central Park and seeing the sunset over New York from the top of the Empire State Building.
Lasting memories of weekend trips to Walmart, pranks of driving the camp director’ golf cart out to the swimming docks and endless campfires with skits and songs will stay with me forever. Every since that first summer I return, telling everyone this is my last summer, but the next summer I find myself back at camp discovering new skills, making more new friends for life, making a difference with the children, exploring new territories of America and pushing myself to the limits once again.
For more information on Camp America and being a counsellor, contact:
Camp America, 37a Queen’s Gate, London, SW7 5HR
Tel: 020 7581 7373
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