FALLING ISN’T FAILURE AND FAILURE ISN’T FINAL
Camp is one of the best atmospheres for a young girl to learn who she is and who she can be. Here at Keystone Camp we understand that each girl is an individual, and we look for ways to connect to each individual based on the traits that best help to raise up an independent, compassionate, and mindful girl who is confident in who she is and understands her role within our small community here. It is vitally important to understand the importance not only for a girl to succeed, but also to help her learn how to see the opportunities to learn from the moments when things don’t go quite as planned.
Every day is an opportunity for our campers to face new challenges. Sometimes these challenges can be found in learning how to live well in community, and other times it’s conquering a difficult skill in an activity. At the barn, I see these situations day after day during our horseback riding and horsemanship classes. Learning how to control and communicate with a 1000-pound animal is not something that comes easy, even to the most experienced equestrians. Horses teach us a lot about being comfortable with being uncomfortable sometimes. A camper may occasionally struggle with trying to master a skill within her own strength and perspective, but when you add the element of an animal with its own mind and agenda to the mix, it can bring out frustration between both horse and girl. We train our staff to take note of these situations and utilize it as an opportunity to create a purpose within the struggle the camper is facing.
Our skill progression programs within our activities are a great way to ensure campers are learning the concepts of the activity itself. It’s so much fun to see a camper get the bullseye in riflery, or master the ability to swing the tennis racquet so well that it looks like an extension of a girl’s arm. There is always a celebration when our campers succeed at any well-earned skill.
But what happens when we can’t hit that bullseye? Or when no matter how much you work on your grip and footwork, you just can’t master the timing of the racquet meeting the tennis ball? Do we quit? Do we make excuses or find somewhere to lay blame? Not at Keystone! We know that the patterns of resilience and effort that we instill in our campers in learning how to respond to frustration and failure will set them up to succeed not only at camp, but also in life.
In my almost 18 years of being Keystone’s Equestrian Director, I can recall maybe a handful of campers who have mastered all the skills required in the horseback riding and horsemanship programs (and there are many). But I can tell you story after story of girls who have failed, and sometimes failed again, and had every opportunity to give up, but didn’t. For instance, the Key Camper who on the first day was terrified to even walk through the barn, but was determined to get a photo on a horse before she left. By the end of her fifth day, she was begging her counselor to let her trot “just one more time.” Or the camper who came back to the barn after two years of not riding, but was determined to challenge herself to get past her fears of jumping just to prove to herself she could do it. After three weeks of challenging herself to focus on what could go right instead of what could go wrong, there was no stopping her from asking her counselor to put the jump up one more hole. Those high fives and cheers of accomplishment when we finally overcome ourselves and the challenges within, ring much louder than those that came a little easier.
Camp is a safe place to embrace frustrations. We learn from them. We grow from them. We become who we are from overcoming them. What makes Keystone so special is the atmosphere of encouragement and compassion to allow each camper to not only overcome those frustrations and challenges herself, but to then build up the next girl to do it just as well.
