When I look back on Camp, I often wonder why I wasn’t more intimidated. With students hailing from big cities and top ranked schools, not to mention foreign countries, how could a guy like me, who grew up in a small town in a small state attending an under-resourced public school, be able to form friendships and contribute meaningfully to Camp’s community? Wouldn’t I feel a bit out of my league? Fortunately, Camp’s welcoming environment negated any sense of personal inadequacy and quickly became a place that not only fed my desire to expand my horizons, but also exposed me to a set of principles that cut deeper than the mere resume booster I presumed it to represent. Indeed, Camp instilled in me a humanitarian creed that I have aspired to live up to since the day I left.
It did this, first, by allowing me to expose my vulnerabilities in a trusting environment, a challenge for any fifteen year old, much less someone as shy as I was at that age. Somehow I managed to reveal insecurities to my new friends and in the process of that unmasking, I gained an unfettered fountain of strength. Things that previously embarrassed me suddenly became sources of pride.
This exchange worked both ways as I learned about other campers. A New Yorker described to me his horrific experience witnessing the Twin Towers fall. I met Muslims for the first time and was invited to attend my first mosque service, which broadened my understanding of a religion that had just begun to saturate national airwaves. A friend confided in me about his sexual orientation. A camper from Queens taught me step-dancing and together, we battled on stage during a talent show.
In the following years, I found myself increasingly drawn to people with experiences that contrasted from my own. Little did I know, but a worldview was molded, and Camp became a microcosm of what I want to see in the world. To this end, I earned a degree in Diplomacy and World Affairs and moved to Washington, D.C. For five years I worked for the government, first with a U.S. Senator and later as an appointee in the Obama Administration at Peace Corps Headquarters. In 2014, my wife and I served as Peace Corps volunteers in Nicaragua, where we worked on grassroots education initiatives. It’s impossible not to question whether I would have taken this path had it not been for Camp’s emphasis on multiculturalism, compassion, and intellectualism. Given my Catholic upbringing, I certainly credit Camp for exposing me to religions different from my own and I’d like to think it is one of the reasons I didn’t hesitate in marrying outside of my faith (my wife is Jewish).
Camp is the first place that allowed me to be vulnerable. It is also the first place that insisted on my ability to embrace others different from me. As a result, Camp granted me the courage to trust the world more and I haven’t stopped since.