Blog Sachems: Hyunwoo (South Korea) & Quique (Spain) 

Photos: Mallika Singh

The End of a Chapter

Camp has come to an end. Four weeks was not as long as it did at the beginning of camp flew by, but not everything is over. We carry with us the amazing experience of spending a month among special and incredible people. We have all learned a lot of important and valuable lessons that will stay with us for the rest of our lives. Rather than being upset and cry because camp is over, we are all happy because it happened.

I think that this is not an end. It is a start. All of us will become the sachem of our own lives and continue the camp spirit throughout our lives. Through the last 4 week, we learned so many things, met so many people from around the world, and realized so many things about life in general. The most important thing is that we use these things in our lives after camp, and to change our life for the better. Be the change, and challenge everything constantly. Don’t be afraid of the change. 

VIGILS

Campers had vigil night this week. You may wonder, what on Earth is that? Vigils is a reflection time for campers. All campers go to their vigil spot, make their own fire for all night, and write a letter to their future selves. When we become 21, these letters are mailed to us. After the vigil night, we interviewed few campers about their experience.

Interview with Andy (Jun-sung) (New Jersey)

Q: Before the night, were you excited about the idea?

A: The night before, I was not excited about the idea because I was not a fan of spending the whole night alone in the woods. I thought that it was too long and wished that we didn’t have to spend the whole night alone.

 

Q: What do you think of the idea of vigils?

A: I think the idea of vigils is simple yet a creative way for every camper to self-reflect, and that it helps every camper on their journey forward. I thought writing letters to your future self is an excellent idea and it creates an amazing atmosphere for the person who does it.

 

Q: What was your vigil spot? Did you like it or would you have preferred another one?

A: My vigil spot was “Ying” and I would’ve preferred another one because I thought it was really close to my other spots and to Cabin Hill. I heard a lot of noise around the (vigil) site and I wished that had been more isolated for my letter.

 

Q: Were there any special moments for you during the night?

A: There was one moment that stood out to me the most. Middle of the night, after my fire went out, everything around me was dead silent. I just closed my eyes and I was able to remember all my experiences and I almost teared up as I remembered my past struggles.

 

Q: What did you write about in your letter?

A: I would like to keep most of the things private, but I mainly wrote about my future, and my hopes for the future.

 

Q: What was the meaning of vigil experience in your life?

A: The meaning of vigil experience in my life was huge because after vigils I realized what an experience it was, and I was able to really reflect on who I am as a person. I don’t have time to truly dedicate 9 hours for self reflection back home, so it was an amazing experience.

 

Q: Do you have any comments to your future self?

A: All I would say to my future self is to try my best and stop procrastinating. I want to remind myself to never give up. 화이팅! 

 

Interview with Jishuko (Zambia)

Q: Before the night, were you excited about the idea?

A: I was not excited about the idea at first because in my country I did something similar and it wasn’t exciting.

 

Q: What do you think of the idea of vigils?

A: I think the idea of vigils is good because it gives us a lot of time to ourselves and be able to reflect, because I am constantly surrounded by people. It is a good idea because we start to think about our future and what we want to achieve and helps us to realize what we are doing wrong and makes us what to work on it.

 

Q: What was your vigil spot? Did you like it or would you have preferred another one?

A: My vigil site was Yang. I like my vigil site and I wouldn’t have asked for a better one. My site was amazing because I was in a place where I saw fireflies. It was so beautiful, but the only bad thing was the mosquitoes.

 

Q: Did you have any special moments for you during the night?

A: Yes, I did have special moments, moments like when I began to think about things on a more serious level. It made me realize a lot. The other moment was when the fireflies began to start lighting up.

 

Q: What did you write about in your letter?

A: I wrote about how lucky I was to attend and experience things like that. I also wrote about the things I would achieve by the age of 21. I also wrote about my current situation in my social life, school life and life at home. 

 

Q: What was the meaning of vigil experience in your life?

A: It meant a lot to me and, as I said, I don’t get as much time alone. That's one of the few times and am lucky to have experienced something like that. The vigils has changed my life for the better.

 

Q: Do you have any comments to your future self?

A: All I would say to future me is to learn to do things there and then, not procrastinate all the time, and to achieve all I want to achieve in life.

This Week's Instructions

Monday:

• Composing (Kaleo)
• Chinese lion dance (Jason)
• Neuroscience (Luisa)
• Hungary (Tobias)
• Spanish (Juan Daniel, Gustavo, Jose, Quique)

Tuesday

• Color Wheel (Caro)
• Microagressions (Janessa)
• French (Louis)
• South Africa Tourister (Lucas)
• Floorball (Hyunwoo)
• Fire fighting (Raina)

Wednesday

• Singing Basics (Quinn)
• Chinese (Herbert, Varun, Xiao)
• Stand-up Comedy (Dan)
• Induction (Tomasz)
• Political Dictionary (Ulvi, Dimitrios)
• Colombia (Juan Daniel) 

The Religious Trips

Early this week, a small group of campers visiting both a synagogue and a mosque. These trips were really enriching. Some of the campers were of those religions, and others were looking to expand their knowledge about different cultures and religious beliefs.

Projects of the Week

• Outdoor stage (Jose & Ahmed) - Done
• Outdoor gym (Renzo)
• Yearbook (Mawali) -Done
• Lean-to (Shai & Cameron)
• Gym door mural (Zeb) - Done
• Songbook(Ulvi) - Done
• Vigil map (Tomasz) - Done
• Gaga ball pit (Wyatt) - Done
• Nature cabin clean-up - Done
• Peace garden platforms (George & Ian) - Done