As the year winds down, naturally I reflect on all the things that have happened over the year. A small recap begins to play through my head—I see moments of happiness, growth, exploration, learning, disappointment, even some sadness. This recap sparks the question we find ourselves asking around December 31st. What is my New Year’s wish? What do I hope to experience or find in 2024 that will allow me to better myself and my purpose in this world? The only way for me to answer this question is to go back to the beginning.
I believe that our lived experiences are what shape and mold us into who we are to become. In my small recap of the year, the biggest similarity from one memory to the next was that most of my experiences, lessons, and living happened right here at Keystone Camp. As many of our returning campers and staff will remember, we experienced lots of challenges here at camp during the summer of 2022, and I had hoped for 2023 as a whole to be better. We always talk with our campers about the lessons that camp can teach and how those lessons carry over into our daily lives. I gained several lessons this past year.
I entered this year with the determination to improve and fix mistakes from 2022. I sat down with some of the year-round team and we unpacked the hard parts of the previous summer. In understanding what I disliked about the summer of 2022, I learned all the things I desired for summer 2023. I realized that the best lessons camp can give don’t just extend to our campers, they also include our staff and year-round team, including me.
To have courage to try something again that had made me feel like I was a failure was scary for me. My biggest lesson from 2023 was learning to not let my fears cripple me in becoming better. As we began to talk about summer 2023, I realized that I had two options. I could choose to live in the fear I felt, or I could use the fear to motivate me to become better. A wonderful quote by Maya Angelou states “Having courage doesn’t mean that we are unafraid. Having courage and showing courage means that we face our fears. We are able to say, ‘I have fallen, but I will get up.’” I learned that my fear was only as crippling as I allowed it to be, so I decided from there to learn to get back up despite how hard it might feel.
As more time passed, I learned the value in having a community of people who support and believe in each other, and share so much love. A community of people who believe in the power of camp creates a network of resources, connections, relationships, and most of all, strength to pull from in hard times. The community we create and foster at Keystone Camp is truly one of a kind and invaluable. When we had staff and campers return for the summer of 2023 who were here in 2022, I was overjoyed. I learned that despite the difficulties we had, there was still a reason that drew them back to Keystone. As we analyzed feedback from campers and staff, I concluded that nothing will ever be perfect, but we can always stand to improve, change, grow, and adapt even when we think we may be at our best.
Post this camp season, I found myself saying “we did it.” It’s over. A sense of pride consumed me for taking some of the hardest lessons I learned in 2022 and using them to make 2023 better. Forgiveness is a powerful gift. When I was a teacher I used to explain to my students that you can apologize, but in the end it’s up to the other person whether they can forgive you and move on. After completing this past summer and reflecting in the off-season, I learned how much grace and forgiveness had taken place. We maintained as much transparency as possible with staff, parents, and campers. It was met with understanding, grace, and patience. We had campers and staff return who could’ve easily left, but instead they took a chance on us again. We had a staff team that was mixed with new and returning staff, and they exceeded our expectations. As I spoke with campers, parents, and staff, I realized that 2022 was forgiven but not forgotten. The lessons we all learned and experiences we had will remain with us forever, but the feelings attached are finally what seems to be at rest. I can breathe a lot easier when I think about 2023.
In writing this, I discovered I can list an abundance of things I have learned or realized over the past 7 years of being able to be a part of the Keystone Camp community. I am not limited to just 2023. Even more, some of my hardest lessons at camp provided spaces for discovery, exploration, and curiosity to take place in my life. Camp lessons that I have experienced always found a way to correspond in my life. In hindsight, teaching and working at camp have several things in common, so that’s not very surprising. However, the lessons I learned about myself, through camp, molded and shaped me into who I’ve become today. I’ve come to believe that camp lessons are life lessons.
Having courage doesn’t mean that we are unafraid. Having courage and showing courage means that we face our fears. We are able to say, 'I have fallen, but I will get up.'
So, what is the thing that I am hoping to find or experience in 2024? That is the big question that is left to answer. I could easily say that I hope for 2024 to maintain the momentum and victories from 2023. However, I think that I desire more after really understanding the lessons that I have learned this year and how they are applicable to life, long term. The lessons at Keystone are not things to be brought into daily life—they are lessons to be lived through and grown from. Lessons that mold and shape us into who we are ultimately to become. I hope in 2024 to continue to improve, change, grow, and adapt. I hope to gain more lessons through Keystone Camp that will help me as I navigate my life ahead of me. I hope that more people in our world will lean into the power of camp, because camp lessons are life lessons impacting us more than we know.
