I still remember it: showing up to my first summer camp, a little eleven-year-old intimidated by the prospect of my first big Scouting adventure. I remember the car ride up, the nerves. I remember showing up to Camp Baker thinking, “What am I getting into?”
Turns out I was getting into exactly what every Scout needs: summer camp. Summer camp is important for new Scouts and old Scouts alike. New Scouts have one of their greatest opportunities to earn rank — merit badges, trail to first class, and their first big experience. Older Scouts have the chance to teach and to take their adventure to the next level.
The truth is, everyone needs a summer camp experience. Summer camp is Scouting’s greatest petri dish for leadership and learning. If some of your fellow Scouts don’t want to go, encourage them with all your might. Do you remember your first summer camp? Tell them how great it was, and how much you learned. Show them the badges, and in doing so give proof of your exploits.
But it doesn’t end there. Do you remember the staffers at camp? I do. I remember my troop guide and my merit badge counselors. I remember the most outgoing performers in the skits.
When I first walked through the gates at Baker, I was met with applause and a warm welcome. When I showed up awkwardly to my first class, I was met with the untiring EDGE method of my counselors. When I sat down at the campfire program, I had no idea the kind of entertainment I was in for.
The camp itself isn’t a summer camp all on its own. It needs its staff. It needs the young kids who noticed their staffers and thought, “I want to be like that someday.” Chances are, it needs you.
This past summer I staffed Camp Baker. I returned to give others the adventure of a lifetime, the adventure I myself appreciated so much. I was the staffer welcoming at the gates, I was the counselor teaching tirelessly, I was the performer making people laugh, and I am staffing again this year. Are you?