Journal Entry 1 part 4

 Summer Camp, The Product of the Technological Revolution. And What it Means To me. 

In my Original post regarding Woodlands camp, the summer camp I have spent most summers of my life at, I mentioned the benefits of summer camp on a broad scale. In this post, i'll aim to explain why the concept of summer camp describes a broader experience I have enjoyed in the world. 

    In my previous post on this subject I discussed the reason Woodlands camp exist and what goals its strives to achieve in the lives of this generation, you can visit that post here. In this post I will describe my experience as a staff member working at woodlands, and why it is a microcosm for many of my broader experiences in life. 

Here is a photo of the Summer staff I worked with during summer 2021 

 It may be hard to decipher, but in that picture there are 125 college students from all over the country. Gathered together to work as a team. The summer is a 12 week commitment and as such is a huge time commitment. We're on the clock 24/7 and all strive to meet the needs of the kids no matter what hour of the day or what the demands require. The term "Whatever It Takes" became our motto, especially as COVID required us to make adjustments that frankly were not comfortable. 

Through woodlands I learned how to live in a community of people that are different, diverse in both appearance and views. Here I learned the importance of communication, listening to others and to sacrifice my comfortability for a greater mission. Now that I am removed from that community and mission I have noticed that the skills I learned are so needed in the 'normal world'.  Since I have returned to a college campus and entered the secular workforce I have noticed the need for a sacrificial kind of service in nearly every aspect of life. My experience at camp as given me an eye for the human side of every situation. A people first kind of mentality. And those lessons came from living and working along side strangers that became family. I hope this post has done a good job explaining why I chose Woodlands Camp as my object that describes a broader experience I have. Indeed that experience has shaped my world view, relationships and every day interactions with people. 


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