As the end of the service term is approaching faster than I would prefer it is hard not to feel a bit reflective of my time spent on Squam since early May. As I said in my first post, coming out here with no prior idea of what life would be like on the lake was a little intimidating, but I quickly realized I had no reason to be nervous at all. My summer spent serving at Camp Hale will easily be one I’ll remember and cherish for the rest of my life. This sleepaway camp nestled into the corner of Squam Lake is truly like no other. The work the people at Camp Hale do to make the summer of inner city Boston kids to be a memorable and enriching one is unbelievable.
The atmosphere at camp was something I am sure many other summer camps would be envious to emulate. For myself, being able to contribute and participate in the daily ongoing camp to help make the best possible experience for these children was something I was not entirely sure I knew needed at the time. Although after having camp empty for almost a month now since the last session of camp ended has made me realize I really did love the hectic way of life at camp no matter how many hours I was going over each day. Being in the position to not only provide an avenue for these kids to explore things they would never have the opportunity to at home in a city or to just simply be “Ranger James” as the kids chose to nickname me was something extremely special. At first finding out I was going to be the only Americorps member at camp this year was a little daunting but little did I know that it was in fact a blessing in disguise. Being the only one meant my role at camp became more personal with the kids allowing me to forge many friendships among the campers and opened opportunities for me to help contribute to the inner workings of camp.
All in all this experience was one I am extremely grateful to have had the opportunity to take and I would not be surprised if I found myself visiting Camp Hale sometime next summer to share in a few days of camp life again.
James is a big fan of sci-fi and fantasy books. Learn more about him here!