Courtesy of Camper Nehru Albaladejo
This past summer, I had the most life-changing experience. I decided not to spend the summer back home relaxing in the nearly clear blue waters of Miami Beach but instead stayed in Waterford near my college town. For two months, I was a Camp Counselor for The Arc New London County at Camp Harkness, which is part of Harkness Memorial State Park. It was a camp that offered children and adults with special needs a quality vacation experience. Our weeks were filled with beach trips (which was a 4-minute walk), all-camp dances, carnivals, rides on the infamous Sunshine Train, and other fun activities.
The weeks at the camp were divided into different age categories: adult (30+) for three weeks, young adult (18-30) for two weeks, and youth (8-17) for two weeks. Each week brought new campers, new challenges, but the same enthusiasm. During my time at Camp Harkness, I stayed in Cabin Two (shout out to the best cabin!) with two other camp-counselors. My co-counselors and I would wake up at around 7 am and work until 10 pm, with our only days off being Friday afternoons and Saturdays. There were long hours of working and managing campers, but when I look back at it, I miss it terribly. I miss singing songs at the campfire, playing with water guns at the beach, receiving the cutest arts and crafts from my campers, and most importantly (and probably the cheesiest) I miss their smiles. Those huge smiles that they would get at the all-camp dance and when they would see me in the morning were priceless.
Each camper was unique. They were the best swimmers in the Special Olympics, amazing singers that left me speechless during karaoke, the most incredible artists, and just extraordinary human beings. To be honest, before this whole experience, I would not say I was ignorant or close-minded about individuals with disabilities, but I was not fully woke/aware of their struggles, perspectives, and quality of life. I did not know that they were limited in making their own choices because their care providers would choose for them, or that some campers were abused and mistreated, or that some did not have any friends. Camp Harkness means the world to them; some would even start counting down the days to come back when they had recently left. Camp Harkness is their safe-haven; they are able to connect with other campers and counselors, decide what they want to do for the day, and just simply live their own lives.
I would say this summer I met about 150 kind-hearted souls. There are some that still message me on Facebook and ask how college is going. Some remembered that I am from Florida and asked how my family was doing after the hurricane. I am so blessed because even though I knew them for a short period of time, they still care about me.
Campers of The Arc New London County-thank you for reminding me of the beauty of life and thank you for changing my life.
Courtesy of Camper Dan Henry