This summer I had the opportunity to work as a counselor for the Fieldston Future Leaders Camp, one of the two camps run at ECFS over the summer. Alumni of ECFS might know the camp by another name, Fieldston Outdoors, which was rebranded to Future Leaders two years ago. At FFL, campers have a unique experience of attending daily classes, such as dance, robotics and stop-motion animation, and participating in traditional camp activities like swim time, weekly trips and a color war at the end of the summer. Working as a counselor at FFL, I was able to create strong bonds with my campers and fellow counselors, building on my lifelong love of camp.
Quite frankly, my first morning of interaction with our ‘future leaders’ had me concerned about the future of our country. To start the morning off, one of my campers was promptly smashed straight in the face with a soccer ball point-blank and sulked and moved slowly the remainder of the morning. Later, a team-building exercise to create a house made of rolled-up construction paper became a war over masking tape. And of course, there were countless crying fits: crying because they didn’t get the class they wanted, crying because they got out in kickball and crying because their twin was, so why not. At the end of the first morning, the only thing I was thinking about was that our future leaders couldn’t change into their bathing suits in under 30 minutes.
The first morning of camp made me think back to my time as a camper. During my many summers at camp, I had many pointless fights with friends. The important thing I learned, however, was to not let those little fights consume my camp experience. Once I saw past those surface-level squabbles, it became much easier to have a great camp experience.
While the first morning of camp was filled with incidents, looking past that, campers and counselors were all having a great time. Although 7-year-olds are inevitably difficult campers, I couldn’t have been placed in a better group. They brought enthusiasm, affection and humor to every day of camp, and always made our job as counselors worth every minute.
Whether it was building a Minecraft house with their friend in robotics class, or making up a new dance, it was amazing to watch the kids grow as learners and friends. Much of the campers’ hard work in activities culminated in an end-of-year talent show. The talent show was an opportunity for many of the campers to show off their work in classes in front of an audience of parents and peers. Campers in dance put on various elaborate performances that took weeks of rehearsed choreography to master. Likewise, playwriting performed original plays written by campers that were well-written and comical at the same time. The talent show was a great opportunity for the kids to show off their unique talents and interests.
Not only were the campers engaged in their on-camp activities, they made our weekly trip days very enjoyable. Every Thursday, for six weeks, campers visited museums, movie theaters and theme parks. The consensus favorite trip from my group was the whole camp trip to LEGOLand. Upon the bus arriving at the LEGOLand parking lot, the campers started chanting LEGOLAND! LEGOLAND! and carried this energy into the rest of the day. We visited the various sections of the park, including LEGO Ninjago, LEGO Castle, the Pirate-themed waterpark and LEGO MINILAND, full of miniaturized LEGO cities. The campers had a blast and were a joy to be with the entire day.
After six weeks, I couldn’t believe that camp was over, but I had developed newfound confidence in our ‘future leaders.’ Along with building great relationships with campers and staff, I got invaluable job experience. For Fieldston high schoolers, I would highly recommend getting involved with this program.
