Because of camp

What do girls gain from the resident camp experience?  The easy answer (or the answer that most non-camp people would answer) is that they get to have fun.  But if you have attended camp as a child, you know that it is so much more than that.  Camp is a unique learning environment where girls get to practice the values instilled in them by their parents.  They get to try out independence and make choices for themselves, within the safe confines of the camp program.  Did you know that, from my experience with camp, kids are far more likely to try new foods and even eat things that they don't normally "like" while at camp?  They get to choose new activities, speak up for themselves and their opinions, learn about different backgrounds, and challenge themselves.  It is amazing to watch these girls grow into outspoken, confident, well-rounded ladies, often just in the 5 short days they are here! 

At school, so much time is spent with books and at desks, that it leaves some obvious holes in the education experience.  We have all heard how schools spend less and less time at recess and physically active, and many arts and extracurricular programs are getting cut as funding wanes.  Camp can help fill in some of those missing pieces in the public education system.  At camp, girls spend many active hours exploring the outdoors, UNPLUGGED from all their various technological devices.  They get to explore their creative side by learning how to entertain themselves during rest hour, working as a group to come up with an impromptu skit, and cook their own food.  Girls learn new skills, such as diving or horseback riding.  However, possibly most importantly, they learn how to interact socially in healthy ways through problem solving, team activities, and making new friends.

Unlike school, where most girls already have formed cliques and social classes in the first few years, when girls come to camp, they can feel free to be whomever they want to be.  Every girl here comes in with the same status...  most girls here at Camp Molly Lauman know at most one other girl here at camp upon arrival and many come not knowing any of the other girls.  Each girl has the same opportunity to make friends with each other without the pressures of having to be somebody they are not in order to fit into a certain group.  It is an even playing field, so to speak. 

Camp is a place that values differences, and helps girls feel comfortable about being different and about being themselves.  Camp is a place where a girl really "finds herself"... I know I did.