Monthly Archives:October 2019

Who would have thought that colored plastic laced with holes would be part of the camp ‘uniform’ at Woodland?! By looking at the shoes left on every cabin porch and on feet of all sizes and shapes, it is obvious the Woodland campers love their Crocs! While Crocs are not officially on the packing list, it is definitely something we tell new campers so they can be part of the Camp Croc Craze.

Crocs are comfy (check out the cushion), practical (they make great shower shoes or to wear at the lake), stylish (sort of – they do come in a variety of fun colors even though they tend to exaggerate a person’s normal shoe size), warm (if you add socks), and are virtually indestructible (my 8 month old puppy has been chewing on the same pair of Crocs for the past 6 months, and I am happy to report they are still completely in tact; my Chaco sandals, not so much!).

You may also notice in the above photo that Crocs can also be personalized with fun Jibbitz shapes and characters that can be inserted into the holes. Maybe they are more waterproof this way for when we have a little Woodland Dew?! It looks like this camper wanted to leave one hole empty to ensure proper ventilation.

Since Treetops has the honors of ‘sponsoring’ this National Holiday (October 23), here is a little more insight into their 2019 camp experience:

In what ways did you SHINE this summer?

Heidi: By being myself and trying not to let anything bring me down

Caroline: I was always nice and included the younger campers. I tried my hardest to do my best in all of my activities.

Catherine: I passed into level 5 in swimming and passed a few levels in riflery.

Lindsey: I met new friends, tried new things, and passed multiple levels!

Eleanora: When I was with my friends.

Anna: By meeting new friends, learning to water ski, doing new skills in all activities and having fun all summer!

Sydney: I met new friends who are so awesome and I can’t wait to write!

When were you your BEST this summer?

Heidi: When I was riding horses and doing archery.

Caroline: When I was swimming.

Catherine: In swimming.

Lindsey: I was at my best in all my activities because I try to do my best in everything I do.

Eleanora: At tennis because I also do it at home.

Anna: When I learned to stand on 2 skis for the first time and passed out of swimming lessons.

Sydney: When I was achieving new things and reaching our goals with my best friends!

Describe a CHANGE you noticed in yourself while at camp:

Heidi: I became more confident with myself, and I started to believe in myself by standing up for myself more.

Caroline: I listen more instead of just talking, and I eat faster.

Catherine: I became more nice and empathetic.

Lindsey: I feel more outgoing and determined now, being able to be myself, also helped.

Eleanora: I became more confident and independent.

Anna: I am now more responsible and open to new experiences and making new friends. I’m not afraid of the lake anymore and things that have to do with it!

Sydney: I started becoming more open to new activities and new challenges.

What lessons were learned from something CHALLENGING?

Heidi: I was homesick at the beginning, so I tried to enjoy my activities and focus on other things at camp.

Caroline: You have to stay confident and power through.

Catherine: I learned that I should never give up because I will eventually achieve my goals.

Lindsey: I learned that no matter what you do, never give up because you lose faith in yourself and stop trying when that happens.

Eleanora: Teamwork solves almost everything.

Anna: By persisting with archery and riflery (shooting at different levels) and learning to water-ski!

Sydney: That I have to swim really fast to get to my goal every day.

by Alex Karahalios, former camper & counselor

I remember the feeling I had when it was time to head up to Camp Woodland for the first time. My parents kissed me goodbye and I begrudgingly stepped onto a large coach bus to confront a sea of unfamiliar faces. As an eleven year old who had never been away from home for more than a typical school day or sleepover, knowing that I would not be coming home for four weeks was paralyzing.

Two weeks into the summer, my parents came to visit. I ran out of Tamarack, jumped to hug my parents, and then promptly sat them down to talk. With my friends – not so subtly – hiding behind a tree in the assembly area, I asked my parents if I could stay for six weeks instead of just four. “Oh, honey, I wouldn’t do that to you! I know how much you didn’t want to come, and I don’t want to make you stay one second more than you already are,” my father said with a smirk to convey his victory. “Dad, please!” I insisted, “I can’t leave. I’ll miss Coed Show and Woodland Fair and everyone says the last two weeks are the best and when you think about it two weeks really isn’t that long of a time anyway…” My parents looked at each other, smiled, and told me I could stay. Immediately, I turned around to give my friends a thumbs up, to which they all jumped out of their hiding places to celebrate. Flash forward one year to a twelve-year-old girl who cannot push her mother out of the door fast enough to get in the car and head north. That feeling of excitement and impatience to soak up as much Northwoods sun as I could get my hands on would flood me every single June for the next six years: every time I was finally coming home.

Since graduating from college at Northwestern University, I have been fortunate to come home twice: once as a counselor the summer following graduation and once for Woodland’s 50^th Anniversary Celebration. The first summer I came home to reconnect with the roots of my childhood and reset before three years of law school at the University of Virginia. The second visit was another coming home celebration, but this time only for three short days. Those three days as a visitor, however, gave me the perspective I did not realize I needed before beginning an intense interview process to work at a law firm.

I arrived at the Rhinelander airport after an early morning wakeup call in Washington, DC and was greeted by four of my best camp friends. Back together after many years, it was all but too natural for us to revert back to our camp routine: we arrived at our base, put our things down on our respective beds, washed our hands, and turned right back around to the next activity. The rest of the weekend allowed us to delve completely into our old camper selves as we ran from one activity to another after the bell, changed quickly into our appropriate activity-wear, and arrived at each meal ravenous and already ready for seconds. Those three days went by just as quickly as I remember every six weeks.

What I didn’t realize until after the 50^th Anniversary was that weekend was all of the interview preparation I needed. Having just reconnected with the place where I developed all of the skills I would need as a law firm summer associate, they were fresh in my mind and ready to go: my fluency in Spanish, my ability to work in a group, my independence in completing tasks, my ability to multitask and manage multiple responsibilities at once, my timeliness, and my intellectual curiosity. Unsurprisingly, my nine summers at camp came up quite a few times during my interviews. I detailed how supplementing my Spanish education over the summer through practicing with my best friends from Mexico pushed me to fluency and inspired me to pursue the language as one of my majors in college.

I confidently assured them that spending six weeks in a cabin with seven other girls and one bathroom prepared me well to work alongside any kind of personality even in the most pressured and dire of circumstances. I recalled how cabin cleanup taught me the importance of playing my part in the team. I explained how the ability to choose the activities of my day and the goals I wanted to reach within each of them meant that I could independently manage the responsibilities I assumed. I understood the importance deadlines and promptness from running out of instructional swim to riding so that I could start my lesson on time. And I demonstrated how the encouragement I received at camp to always try new things – food included – inspired my curiosity to also try new classes, legal internships, cities to live in, and career paths.

Coming home as a camper, CIT, or counselor every year was the release of pent up excitement and impatience that grew throughout the school year and culminated in a new summer adventure. Coming home as an alumni was the timely reminder that those nine summers continue to shape me and propel me forward to new professional adventures I never could have foreseen when I confronted that sea of unfamiliar faces eleven years ago.