Program Focus Traditional (multi activity) , Leadership (multi)
Age (Gender) 13 - 19 (Female)
Job/Career Kids pastor
(5) Overall experience
My life is entirely different because of Kwasind. It was the place that I felt at home first in my life and helped me find my faith. It gave me opportunities to grow my faith, be part of community and gave me leadership opportunities beyond anything else in the world to get me to be where I am today. It built my confidence, made me a self starter with initiate as well as helped me recognize importance of teams working together. I see value in each piece of the puzzle because of camp and I have brought that into my work as a pastor. Seeing the importance of each person and piece at work and going to the right people for the right things.
(5) Unique value
Kwasind is where you feel like you can be yourself in every sense. You bring your true self, and there is some pinhole that those pieces will fit into. Kwasind is a dynamic group of communities because of this fact. Camp has the ability to make you feel comfortable like no other place does. Doing life with people in this way can not be done anywhere else. The best days of your life and your worst are at camp, and the way this influences your relationships and leadership is instrumental in the way camp shapes young people’s lives.
(5) Program quality and activities
I always looked forward to things like dedication campfire - a worship night centred around the gospel. Sleeping under the stars on the island. Both of these things pushed me in different ways but opened me up to new experiences I would never have had at home.
Leading kids and caring for young people pushed me a lot. In my time as a cabin leader, I oversaw young kids who peed the bed, had nightmares, had intense trauma, and also kids who were flourishing, trying new things, and excited to be outdoors. This dichotomy was hard but beautiful and pushed me to recognize the way I can use my skills to comfort and support others. This also translated into caring for staff once I was in leadership.
(5) Social dynamics and experience
My best and longest friends are my camp friends. I feel deeply connected to my camp friends on a level I can’t describe or relate to with non-camp friends. The way we have grown up together, spent extended amounts of time together, has shaped the foundation of our relationships, and that trust is only built at camp. The way that we had to rely on each other in hard times, as well as the fun we had, made these connections so lasting.
(5) Skills and growth
I have been able to develop my social-emotional skills at camp, recognizing body language and tone, and how to help people shape and reframe their thinking in times of struggle at camp. Through trust and leading by example, as well as the direct leadership development that is put into training at camp. The skills I learned about listening are for sure massively influential in my life now. As well as knowing the value of your words and actions and how those affect culture, this is huge in pastoral work, and how I cultivated my ability to lead from within at camp is highly useful in my work.
(5) Reflections and advice
I would say - have fun. Go to camp to have fun and do it for as long as you can. I worked for 10 full summers and still make it a priority to be at camp for a few weeks each summer, not only because it’s fun but because it matters. Lives change at camp, and the more you can be a part of that, the more you will be fruitful and multiply within and outside of camp. The stories, memories, and love felt at camp are worth way more than the money you could make in other places over the summer.
