The Magic of Camp
When I was 19, I foolishly applied to be a camp counselor at Camp Reynal with dreams of fulfilling some childish desire to go to summer camp. I'd never experienced camp before, and I figured this might be as good a time as any to be a part of it.
What you quickly realize when you are there, though, is that this is no ordinary summer camp. Camp Reynal is a week-long sleepaway camp for children living with kidney and urological disorders. Many of these children have never been away from home; many of them spend a good bit of their time in a hospital; many of them have been through things that none of us will ever have to face.
What you quickly realize is that while canoeing is a blast and the zipline is one of the most exciting things to be a part of, it's not really about the canoeing and the zipline. Rather, it's about the moment at the end of the week when the child who told you in every activity, "I don't like that very much", suddenly turns to you as they're about to fall asleep and says, "This was the best week of my life".
The power of camp is real. It changes lives. It pushes a child up a rock wall, helps them through their treatment in the hospital, and makes them say "I guess I'm not the only one". It compels a foolish 19 year old to become a foolish 24 year old who travels across the world to be a part of it.
Camp is often described as magical, but that makes it seem as though its effects come out of thin air. In reality, the "magic" of camp is a group of people coming together and giving a small bit of time to be a part of something bigger than themselves. People like yourselves.
- Patrick King
What you quickly realize when you are there, though, is that this is no ordinary summer camp. Camp Reynal is a week-long sleepaway camp for children living with kidney and urological disorders. Many of these children have never been away from home; many of them spend a good bit of their time in a hospital; many of them have been through things that none of us will ever have to face.
What you quickly realize is that while canoeing is a blast and the zipline is one of the most exciting things to be a part of, it's not really about the canoeing and the zipline. Rather, it's about the moment at the end of the week when the child who told you in every activity, "I don't like that very much", suddenly turns to you as they're about to fall asleep and says, "This was the best week of my life".
The power of camp is real. It changes lives. It pushes a child up a rock wall, helps them through their treatment in the hospital, and makes them say "I guess I'm not the only one". It compels a foolish 19 year old to become a foolish 24 year old who travels across the world to be a part of it.
Camp is often described as magical, but that makes it seem as though its effects come out of thin air. In reality, the "magic" of camp is a group of people coming together and giving a small bit of time to be a part of something bigger than themselves. People like yourselves.
- Patrick King