Compiled by Louis Levin
As I mentioned in a previous column this off-season, I am excited to share some success stories from the 2023 camping season – and while there are many to choose from, this month’s involved me pretty directly in a really fun way.
Each Spring, I have the pleasure of pairing up older returning campers and new 2nd through 5th graders as a part of our Big Brother/Little Brother program. For the new camper, having a Big Brother serves as a connection point for their first summer at camp, someone to ask questions to and familiar face to greet when they arrive at camp. And our Big Brothers take the responsibility seriously – for many of them, it’s their first opportunity to practice their leadership with a younger camper.
At the end of the 2022 season, an 8th grader approached me asking to be a Big Brother in 2023 as a 9th grader. This camper hadn’t really fit my own preconception of what makes a great Big Brother. It’s not that he wasn’t responsible, or that he would let a Little Brother down. I think my own bias was toward inviting campers who tend toward being gregarious around their peers and campers of all ages, and this camper exhibited more introverted behaviors at camp, keeping to himself a lot of the time. Of course, when campers ask for basically anything at camp, we work as hard as we can to say yes, and that’s doubly true when a camper is asking for more responsibility. We sat down to talk about why he was interested in being a Big Brother, and how it might push him out of his comfort zone. He recognized that interacting with younger campers can feel outside his comfort zone, but expressed to me that his desire to be a role model for a Little Brother felt like a positive challenge, one that he really wanted to achieve.
View this post on Instagram
He totally rose to that challenge. He got paired up with a Little Brother who was going to push him a bit, a new 3rd grader that had more energy than he knew what to do with, and when he came bouncing off the bus, our intrepid Big Brother impressively equaled his energy and enthusiasm. A year ago, it felt like an unlikely match, but throughout the first night of camp, and into the first week, I saw the Big Brother check in on his Little Brother at a few different points, getting him excited about projects, and beginning the process of mentoring him to succeed at camp. The two got along well, and I was blown away by the leadership this new Big Brother exhibited throughout the season. And, I got to see firsthand how camp is the perfect place to challenge yourself, push yourself out of your comfort zone, and become the person you want to be.
As for Arrowhead news, as Adam outlined last month, our reunion tour is in a holding pattern, so we’re a little light for the time being. If you have anything you’d like to share, please feel free to email me at [email protected].
IT MAY INTEREST YOU TO KNOW… A group of campers and staff celebrated Bradley Rittenberg’s Bar Mitzvah – attendees included Henry Kramer, Jacob Wallenstein, Joel and Zander Aronoff, Joey Rivkin, and Ira Lit.
WHERE ARE THEY NOW… Tucker Slosburg’s (Seattle, 1993-’99, 2002-’10) company, Lyceus Group, won “Best PR & Communications Firm” for the Institutional Asset Management Awards.
IN THE BIBS AND DIAPERS DEPARTMENT… It’s a boy, Theodore “Teddy” Andrew Briggs for our Associate Director, Joe Briggs (Columbus, 2012-2024) and Kate “Katay” Briggs (Columbus, 2017-’19). It’s a boy, Graham Mason Schmidt, for Clay Schmidt (Oceanside, NY, 1999-2003, ’05-’07) and Samantha Schmidt.
Welcome to the Camp Family Teddy!