The YMCA Camp Oakasha Mission: Friendship, Adventure, and Memories... Part 1

It's the second week of Session 1 here at YMCA Camp Oakasha and friendships are growing!  Some of our campers have traveled from quite a distance to make new friends at YMCA Camp Oakasha this summer.  We have campers who live in Brazil, Texas, Virginia, and New York City during the rest of the year but are spending their summer with us!  Campers have played name games, ice breakers, teambuilders, played together, sang together, and cheered each other on.  They've moved past just knowing a little bit about each other and are really opening up about what's important to them.  This morning I talked to a group of Nehantic girls (5th-7th grade) about their goals for the summer.  Many of them are working on making new friends, building confidence in themselves, learning more about nature, and leaving behind the "computer time" they rely on during the school year for entertainment.  Sharing goals like this helps friendships to deepen, and it's something that they may not do in their everyday life outside of camp.  

I've been talking to campers a lot about the meaning of "camp friends" and how they are different from friends they meet at school or on the soccer field.  One staff member, Paul, who came to YMCA Camp Oakasha as a camper and has been on staff for the past 8 years, remembered coming to camp and not worrying about what other people thought of him.  "Camp is a great place to be silly and just be yourself.  You don't even have to worry if you get dirty or something, because everyone does!"    

One Counselor-in-Training said that he always becomes closer to his friends at camp because "you do more stuff together, you're more like lifelong buddies."  And he would know, since he's been coming here since he was 5 and is looking forward to becoming a counselor alongside his camp friends in the next few years.  "Now, as a CIT, I can help with the younger kids and show them what friendship really is."   

A first year CIT, quickly made friends with the other people in her group and enjoys rolemodeling friendship to the younger campers.  "Camp is about having new experiences with new friends.  Usually when I'm not at camp, I don't think of myself as a role model, but the younger kids look up to me, so I make sure that I'm doing my best and being a good friend to everyone."   

One of our youngest campers, said "I'm friends with all of these kids because I just said 'hi' and then they started being my friend!  It's easy to be friends with everybody here!"  

Many campers return year after year to spend the summer with their "camp friends" that they've known "forever" and who they only see at camp.  The staff love the first day of each session because of all the friendship reunions, kids who are so excited to see their friends who they haven't seen in the past year.  

Camp brings friends together from new places, introduces kids to friends they would have never made otherwise, provides positive role models, and makes it easy for friendships to blossom.  It's been a lot of fun to watch friendships come together this summer and I'm sure it will continue all the way through August.    

Still thinking about registering for YMCA Camp Oakasha?  We still have space!  Visit our website for more information and to register: www.campoakasha.org.