This week I caught up with Chewy and Mufasa, the incredibly funny and hardworking co-chairs of Camp Kesem Notre Dame. You might be asking where the names come from; at the beginning of camp, every camper and counselor adopts a new nickname and then goes by this name for the entire week. This allows kids the chance to be whoever they want for a week, and live out camp to the best of their imagination. Here’s what the co-directors had to say about the best club on campus!
The Basics
Name: David Reed (Chewy)
Grade: Junior
Major: Science Pre-Professional
Dorm: Alumni
Name: Cody Ferrantino (Mufasa)
Grade: Senior
Major: History and Political Science
Dorm: Siegfried (go Ramblers!), now Off-Campus
Camp Kesem: Unique Opportunity
What is Camp Kesem?
Chewy: We are an organization that helps kids whose parents have been affected by cancer. Our main job is to help them through the struggles associated with the disease.
Mufasa: Camp Kesem is one focus under a larger organization called Kesem, a year-round program dedicated to helping children through the hardships associated with cancer.
How did you get involved in Camp Kesem?
C: My freshman year, a friend of mine was recruited and he told me about the program. I applied, and did my first camp the summer after freshman year. I was interested in camp-related stuff, and felt a need to become more involved.
M: My cousin was a co-director at the UC San Diego Camp Kesem and my other cousin went as a camper in 2009. Her dad had passed away previously, and afterwards she had stopped talking to her family and became really quiet. After she went to camp, she couldn’t STOP talking. It had a really good impact on my family as a whole: CK didn’t really have to sell to me to get me to join on.
How did you become camp co-directors?
C: Mufasa was the co-director when I went to my first camp, and during my sophomore year him and Lars (the other co-director) asked me to become more involved.
M: The previous directors asked me after first camp to be a co-chair.
Are you guys sick of each other yet?
C: Yes.
M: No.
What is your favorite part about camp?
C: The activities; this is when campers can really face their fears. We have a high ropes course at camp and one camper was afraid of heights, but he pushed himself and did the course and was really happy he did it.
M: Feet on bed time! This is siesta time for campers, and allows counselors to have a little break. In youngest boys cabin that’s our joke time: I try to play guitar and get them to fall asleep, but instead we end up telling dumb jokes.
What’s the hardest part about camp?
C&M: When the campers leave on the last day. That’s when we realize we can’t have camp all year round.
Has camp affected your future plans at all?
C: As a pre-med student, camp has given me immeasurable skills. Med schools want doctors with a more holistic approach to medicine, and try to develop med students who have this mentality. There are other intangibles that go along with diseases, and my camp experiences have taught me how important it is to develop those skills. Doctors try to treat the disease at hand, but there’s emotional and psychological things that go along with it that can be as detrimental as disease itself.
M: I’m applying to work at Camp Kesem national after graduation. I would oversee 8-10 school chapters of CK. Camp is really important to me, it’s the best thing I’ve ever done.
Why does CK focus on children affected by a parent’s cancer?
C: CK is the only organization that deals with this problem. This population is so grossly overlooked, and we need people to pay attention.
M: Kids are overlooked mostly because they don’t show the symptoms of the disease. In a lot of cases, they have to become secondary caregivers for a parent who is sick. It’s our job to let them become a “Terminator” or “Superman” for a week: kids deserve to be kids and go to summer camp. We’re also trying to be more of a presence throughout the year, and the kids are really responding to it.
What’s Call on Carl?
M: Call on Carl is named after CK’s mascot, Carl the Caterpillar. It’s a new program where we can go babysit, give the parents a night out, bring dinner to the family, or cheer the kids on at sports games. It’s really nice for a family to get support when going through treatment, or when the campers need a little support from their CK counselors.
#Chewfasa: What is this? What does it mean?
C: It’s a love/hate relationship where he loves me and I hate him.
M: That’s the worst thing I’ve ever heard. *exasperated sigh*
Why should underclassmen get involved in CK?
M: My Kesem friends have become some of my best friends, the kind that I will definitely keep in touch with after graduation (except for Chewy). Online it says Kesem is like a family, and that’s exactly how I feel.
C: There’s a lot of stuff going on in our college lives, and CK gives you something you can work on outside of school to become a better leader and a better person.
M: It’s such a Notre Dame thing to put others before yourself, which is why Camp works so well here. It’s really at the core of what ND is.
C: It’s really a pressure-cooker for friendship; we all grow together so quickly.
On Notre Dame:
What has been your worst football game experience?
M: We played USF my freshman year. It was the opening game, but we had to wait through three rain delays and then we lost. *sigh*
C: Northwestern. Going from top 10 to unranked in three weeks was depressing.
What is one thing you need to do before you graduate?
C: To climb Stepan.
M: I’d like to smoke a cigar with Father Hesburgh.
Any fun facts we should be aware of?
M: I can write with my feet.
C: I never want to write with my feet.
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