The first session of SAM camp has been such a special time. Reflecting on this particular SAM community, with the exception of raving about the awesome six-day trips we pulled off, I am less inclined to write about our scheduled program and spend this time writing about this amazing group of campers. When campers come to SAM they are immediately introduced to the concepts of ownership, advocacy, personal responsibility, and having a voice. I’m finding that each SAM Camp community addresses similar issues in the way of having a clean camp, using appropriate language, etc., but as for social dynamics, each session takes on a different yet equally important set. These 1st session campers have been using the buzz word “drama.” Our trusty Social Barometers let us in on the fact that the “drama” consists of some conflicts over who likes who, who is excluded as a result, and what is the appropriate way and amount of time spent processing these conflicts before it becomes drama. Campers have been advocating to each other to lessen the exclusion and for us all to get to know each other and share our experience. As described by a camper with his finger on the pulse of this issue, we have made it from “Gossip Girl” to “James Bond” on the drama scale. This, it seems, is a positive move forward. It’s really awesome watching these age appropriate dynamics and learning as a team of staff to cradle and nurture these interactions without judgment.
The six-day trips are the perfect opportunity for campers to branch out into smaller communities. At this time they take risks together like paddling through high winds or dangling from a rock face 30 feet off the ground. They tackle objectives together like the famed Mahoosucs Notchs known as the hardest mile on the Appalachian Trail, or getting to Flagstaff Peak. For many of our campers, comfort zones are pushed and pulled by carrying the weight of their pack, sharing a tent with others they don’t know, packing up their stuff in an organized way and moving down the trail only to take it all out and do it all over again. When you think of it, it certainly takes a special kid to put him or herself in the path of all of this unpredictable adventure for fun. The result however is campers returning with heads high, news friendships, new ways to support a peer and their community, a broader sense of what they can accomplish, and hard skills that will allow them to plan and have their own adventures.
Reuniting as the entire SAM community after these long trips, we are able to see and implement our new-found ways to support each other, and the trust in these new friends is evident as we begin discussions that allow for a bit more vulnerability. One of these facilitated discussions occurs during “Rap Groups.” These are opportunities to hang out with like-gendered campers. Many campers use this time to voice what it is like to be a male or female in their school and the kinds of pressures they face in these roles. You can feel the relief in the group as a camper speaks and others realize that they are not alone with these struggles. They could talk for ages about struggling with social hierarchies and how to be the person they believe in verses the person they believe they have to be.
We have surely seen the beauty in each of our campers this session and are so appreciative of this opportunity to take part in their summers. I hope that you will be sure to talk about these 24 days at great length with your campers.