The following post was written by one of our campers (age 15) from the Wavus Camp for Girls.
This I believe
When I think about a belief, I think about something that happened to me that changed my outlook on life. This could be anything.
Something new happens everyday; some things are common, and some are rare. I looked at something that changed my life and helped shape the person I am today. I believe in camp, because for me camp is all about freedom and the power to be a girl.
I believe in camp because at the Wavus Camp for Girls you are free to be whoever you want to be. At camp you don’t have to worry about the test on Friday or the exams that are slowly approaching or the applications that you have to finish. You can just be free and be a kid, without the distractions of school and of the outside world.
During the past five years at camp, I have experienced many challenges and also many joys. Most of those challenges have been when I have been out on wilderness trips. These trips are a huge part of Wavus and are my favorite part of a Wavus summer. Some of the trips I have accomplished are, canoeing on
the Damariscotta River when I was eleven, climbing Katahdin, the tallest mountain in Maine, when I was twelve, canoeing the St.Croix River at thirteen, and my greatest challenge to date, backpacking and sea-kayaking for twelve days last summer. These trips have also given me great joy because my cabinmates and I work together to accomplish our goals. Before Camp last summer I was anxious to find out what trip I was assigned. When I found out that I would be doing the backpacking and sea-kayaking trip, I was excited, and a little nervous, because I knew that it would be the hardest thing that I would face to date. The day that we were going to leave I was anxious to see what would lie ahead and what challenges we were going to face. Anybody who has experienced the van driving away, and leaving you in the middle of nowhere, knows the feeling of being on your own and the challenge of getting from point A to point B, using something other than a car. I had to hike 27 1/2 miles, while carrying a forty-pound pack that had the clothes that I would need and group gear we would all depend on during our hike. The first two days we were mainly meandering through the woods, but once we got to the first summit I felt accomplished, and as we kept going and continued to summit three more peaks I felt like I was on top of the world. One day when we were being goofy girls and celebrating our accomplishments, many through hikers on the AT were surprised to see ten screaming, hyper, excited fourteen year old girls, because it is not something you see everyday on a 4,000 foot mountain. They asked where we were from and what we were doing. We told them that we were from Wavus Camp for Girls and that we were on a twelve-day wilderness trip. They were shocked that girls were doing that.
Experiencing many of these wilderness trips has taught me how to be a strong girl. I have also learned that girls can survive in the woods without showers and bathrooms. On the last night of hiking we went around and everyone said what their favorite part of the trip was, and my friends and I all agreed that the best part was meeting this challenge at such a young age. Camp has given me the power to be a girl and be myself. This I believe.
Written by a Wavus Camper