The Louis August Jonas Foundation

There is a Sanskrit phrase that we commonly use in India “ Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam” which means the whole world is one family. Though I knew what this phrase meant, I never really experienced it until I came to Camp Rising Sun and witnessed the true meaning and essence of that phrase.

Camp Rising Sun was a truly life changing and unique experience for me, not just because it is now linked with so many of my firsts—like travelling all alone in a 19 hour flight journey, sleeping in tents, living without my phone for a month, making friends from all over the world, going on a camping trip and getting bug bites—but also because Camp made me unlearn and relearn certain things, accept myself and others, express my views and opinions, and become a better person overall.

One of the things that had a huge impact on me was the concept of servant leadership that was practiced at Camp. Earlier whenever i used to hear the term “Leader” a picture of a powerful person came to my mind, one who “leads” the whole group, supervises everything and strives to reach the target.

But when I became the Leader of the Day, I remember talking to Maya, my partner, and planning what our day would be. The main focus we had was how to make this day the best day of their lives, how we can cheer up other campers and how we can put a smile on their faces. All our activities and planning were focused on that. Through that experience I realised what servant leadership is all about.

Camp gave an opportunity to every camper to be a leader in one way or the other, there were leaders of the blog, hiking trips, Teamworks, and Leaders of the Day! At the end of every day, we used to have a feedback session in which other campers were encouraged to give their true feedback including constructive criticism about how they felt about the whole day. This practice of giving and taking feedback helped us to assess ourselves better and Improve. It also made me realise the importance of acknowledging, accepting and respecting others’ opinions.

I realised that we all are leaders, and a leader is not the one who leads or is a boss of something, a leader is the one who knows how to best serve the community, accept and respect differences in his/her group, create room for improvement and learning and acknowledge team work.

I remember one of the Evening Programs that we had where we all were wearing old clothes and there was a huge canvas made by joining sheets on the floor of the hall and we were given colours and other stuff and asked to do whatever we want to do with it. It was all dark, no lights were on so we couldn't see each other, and we ended up creating a mess obviously and had paint colours all over our faces and bodies. But it was so much fun, and I could feel the little child in me coming back. That activity made me realise how the process matters more than the product, you don't always have to be perfect in something, you just have to try! Sometimes, In the course of making the best product, we make rigid rules to do things in the right way and lose our creativity. But that shouldn't happen, because no one is perfect and imperfections are beautiful!

Apart from that, performing Teamworks each day, by helping in the kitchen, cleaning toilets and buildings and chopping wood helped me learn the importance of cooperation and commitment. After all, everything becomes a lot less difficult and a lot more fun when done as a team!

All these lessons and experiences instilled the qualities of a good leader in all of us, and I feel grateful that, having experienced this, I can now give something back to my community and create more leaders of tomorrow!

So, from sleeping in tents, hand washing dishes, chopping wood, building our fire, learning about different cultures, having discussions about global issues, giving and following instructions on diverse topics, enjoying pool parties, movie nights, bonfire and hiking trips, I cherished and enjoyed each and every moment spent at Camp, tried to take each day as “one,” and learned so much.

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.