Life, Literature and Interlochen

 "You never realize how much you can say about a person's mind through dialogue.  At first you think you're limited to the believable.  But there's a lot of room for analysis."  

Sarah McDonald, 13, is relaxing at her family home in Montclair.  Discussing the craft of expository writing with a grown-up might be intimidating for some kids.  But for Sarah . . . not so much.                        

Sarah's extraordinary experience this summer may explain her eloquence.  Through a combination of determination, hard work and family support, she was lucky enough to attend the Interlochen Summer Arts Camp in Interlochen, Michigan for three weeks in July.

The Interlochen Arts Center, long renowned for its boarding school and innovative arts programs, offers an intensive summer camp that provides immersion into the arts for students of all ability levels.  When Sarah was ten years old she found out about Interlochen's exceptional Summer Arts Camp.  She begged her parents to go but they felt she was too young.  After two more years of pestering, however, they finally consented to let her attend the program, which draws arts-loving kids from all over the world. 

Right from the start, the camp met Sarah's high expectations – and then some.

"At Interlochen, everyone's artists," she explains excitedly.  "In my cabin, there were five visual artists, a dancer, three musicians (flute, cello and piano) and two other writers.  You can learn so much in an environment where people love what they do and want to do it all day."

Sarah's mom, Kelly, interjects, "There's just art everywhere," she said.  "It's an enclave of spontaneous art."

"There are practice huts all over!" Sarah went on.  "You're walking around and hearing music everywhere.  You're allowed to draw on the walls!  Musicians sign up to play music at night, so every night we fell asleep to slumber music."

"Even the airport bus driver who dropped us off at the camp was a musician," Kelly smiles.

For many thirteen-year-olds, going into a classroom to write all day would hardly be their idea of a great summer break.  Even Sarah's sister was a little perplexed at the idea.

"My sister Ella was horrified!"  Sarah chuckles.  "She said, 'But it's just like summer school!  If you go there, they're gonna make you write!' "

Sarah and Kelly laugh.  "Everyone there was a nerd," Sarah says cheerfully.  "If you go to Interlochen you have to be some kind of a nerd.  But we were all nerds together.  We were art nerds."

In fact, the camp at Interlochen offered an assortment of nature experiences too, such as weekend trips to the beaches of Lake Michigan.  But what most campers loved best was the freedom to explore their various art forms.  Like Sarah, they treasured the long days of creative stimulation and freedom.

 "The Writing House was a very chill, relaxed environment.  It's very quiet so you didn't feel pressured there," said Sarah.  "You could write for your own enjoyment.  It's all about doing what you love."

Sarah has been drawn to the arts from an early age.  She won an Honorable Mention in a major playwriting contest when she was 11 and, for the past two years, has attended a Children's Literary Salon in Montclair.  Perhaps most importantly, Sarah has been raised in a home environment rich in intellectual and creative expression.  For example, two years ago the McDonald family attended a summer program at Cornell University that offered classes to every member of the family -- even Lilly, the youngest, then age 5.  The family still remembers it fondly.

"Kids – all kids – need a space to create," says Kelly.  "It was a gift for Sarah to have that space (at Interlochen) to create her art."

To better explain why the program affected her so deeply, Sarah describes her specific course of study.

"I was a Dramatic Writing major, with a minor in environmental science and computer music," she says, sounding more like a college student than someone who just completed seventh grade.  "Every day in your Major class, the teacher used prompts to get everyone started writing.  You're given a scenario and have to find something to build on.  You use your creativity to come up with important details."

Such as?

"One of our prompts was writing a 'Persona Poem' about someone who never got to tell their side of the story.  Interesting, huh?  One girl wrote about Marie Antionette.  Mine was about a man who committed suicide by jumping off a building and then, when he's about to hit the ground, he realizes he's sorry."

Powerful stuff.  Sarah continues, "I learned that, with poetry, there's a bunch of structural things you have to know.  Like formatting, dialogue, line breaks.  I realized, if you change the line breaks it can change the whole meaning (of the poem)."

In keeping with the class assignments, the required reading for Playwriting was also eclectic and imaginative.  "We read lots of things . . . I remember especially Neighborhood Three and a play called, God's Ear.  It made me realize how much deeper you can go into understanding something when you discuss it with other people."

In September, Sarah will attend eighth grade at Glenfield Middle School and continue writing on her own, but next summer, she hopes to go back to the Interlochen Arts Camp.   There, she looks forward to continuing her Dramatic Creative Writing studies and interacting with peers who share her passion.  "They're very encouraging and motivating," she says of the other students at the camp.  "We were all passionate about our writing.  We realized, it's not about where you're going, it's where you are now."   

For more information about the Interlochen Arts Center and Summer Camp in Interlochen, Michigan go to:

http://camp.interlochen.org

http://www.interlochen.org