Pushing Outside the Comfort Zone
The Canadian Returns
We once had a camper who often let his nerves get the best of him. He was always a wonderful kid – kind, smart, and with a strong moral compass. He would be anxious leading up to camp each summer, he would be anxious about social situations and he was especially anxious about his camping trips. Each year in the buildup to the cabin trip, he would find himself in the office asking if he could skip the trip. Several times he said he wouldn’t return to camp the following summer because he was unwilling to go on the next trip. And for many years he swore he wouldn’t go on the Canadian.
Last night, when he returned from his 10-day adventure, he said the trip was “incredible” and “so fun.” Even though he was sure he wouldn’t survive, his counselors and trip leader said he did great every step of the way. He was absolutely beaming with pride about his accomplishment. He said he learned that he was stronger than he knew, and when I asked if he meant physically or mentally, he said “both.” Amazingly, this camper that never wanted to go on a camping trip said that he wanted to be a Junior Tripper, where our oldest campers can help out on a younger cabin’s camping trip.
So much of our program is designed to push the boys outside of their comfort zone and nothing exemplifies that more than our tripping program. The Canadian exposed the boys to long paddles into strong headwinds and to portages filled with mosquitoes; to nine days without a bed or a shower; and it exposed them to life with only the food and supplies they could carry. But so much growth comes from being outside of their comfort zone. Supported by an incredible group of counselors and trippers, these campers persevered and processed, coming back to their camp home aware and grateful for what they had just experienced.
As we were touring around parents for our Rookie Weekend today, we stopped to chat with a group of our Pine Manor campers and asked them for their favorite thing about North Star. They all spoke of community and friendship, and about being supported by each other and their counselors. I first attributed this response to the fact that yesterday’s Friday Night Service was about community, only to remember that the Pine Manor boys weren’t yet home at that point. It has just been their lived experience at camp.
Sometimes we push our kids by having them do things that are scary, and other times we push kids by encouraging them to pursue their passions. One of our Junior campers became an honorary member of the kitchen staff last summer when he approached our baker Sandy to ask if he could make his aunt’s mandelbrot recipe for the whole camp. It was a huge hit last summer and again this summer. Sandy then asked Eli if he would help bake Martha’s Bread today, a special cinnamon bread that we have every Saturday night. They had a blast baking together and Eli is so proud of adding to his skills and sharing the delicious results with all of camp.
One of our first year campers named Victor told us that he loved photography, and so we set him up to shadow our photographer Maik and our videographer Rob during some Organized Free periods. When other campers saw that, they wanted to participate too, so we added it as an option for our boys to choose the other night. Many of the boys were excited to learn how to construct photos and use a DSLR camera, and the result can be seen in the album called “Camper Photos – Organized Free Photography Activity 2024.” It is so fun to see the boys exploring their passions and growing along the way.
And speaking of our media team, make sure to check out the Highlights Video from Week 1!
