Category: Staff Corner

by Jenny de la Fuente

There is something very mystical that I still don’t quite understand about my summers at Camp Woodland for Girls. Even though every summer appears to be very similar to previous summers, every year I learn something completely new about myself.

Jenny Celebrates 10 yrs

I have been going to Camp Woodland for ten consecutive summers since I was 13 years old. Woodland keeps old traditions alive from year to year; we sing Princess Pat after dinner and go on nature walks in the Climax Forest. We get excited about Song Contest and hope that our song will get picked for Co-ed Show. We work hard to get that flip right for the gymnastics shows or to play in the TP/Woodland Tennis exchange. It seems like summers blend together making separate memories become a single journey. How can a place where campers return summer after summer allow you to learn so much about yourself?

Cousins

Camp is a place that permits you to learn about yourself in so many different ways. My first summer I learned that it is okay not to be fluent in English because at camp everyone understood that it is not my first language, and they encouraged me to keep practicing. Camp is place where you challenge yourself everyday by going outside of your comfort zone. It is actually very gratifying to know you have the courage to explore new things. Camp Woodland is the place where I have met the most amazing people and where I’ve made friendships that will last my entire life.

Final Banquet Tennis Awards

Camp Woodland is the place where you let go of the stress and pressures of daily life. The only things that you actually have to worry about are having fun, being yourself, and doing cabin clean up every morning. At camp you get the chance to connect with nature and leave technology behind. It is a great feeling to be with the people you are supposed to be with and do the things you are supposed to be doing at any given moment. Something that I personally find so hard to do these days!

My days at camp have been the happiest of my life so far, and I can’t wait to go back and create some new memories for myself and live new experiences that will allow me to grow as a person.

Star Search Team

This week some unusual visitors “dropped by” on their coast-to-coast search for STAR CAMP STAFF, and Woodland being one of the premier summer camps in the US, was the perfect place for them to find the STARRIEST and SPARKLIEST staff around!  Once campers helped the Star Search Team spot and locate star staff, they got their picture taken, signed the Woodland “Hall of Fame”, and were given a special treat since they were “bursting with stardom” (a.k.a. Starburst candy!).

Star Staff Rachel, Sarah, and Alex at Rec Swim

The 3 agents on this important assignment found their first Star Staff, Allison, preparing for her overnight canoe trip with Starshine cabin.  The next stop was the riflery range where Star Staff Cami was teaching the girls at one of their favorite target sport activities.  The team encountered a constellation of Star Staff at the Waterfront: Natalie and Grace C were headed out for an afternoon sailing period, and Tori, Ceci, Alex, Sarah, and Rachel were getting into position for Rec Swim.  Meanwhile, Star Staff Susan, Grace W, and Courtney were teaching campers how to water-ski.

Star Riding Staff Bobby

The next Star Staff encounter was in the office where Wendy, Racquel, Alysia, and Calla were busy with preparations for Olympics and other important camp business.  Star Staff Jenny was in the Rec Hall meeting with the 18 girls who signed up for Drama 3rd session.  From here the Search Team found Star Staff Bobby, Suz, and Sam teaching riding.  Girls were practicing their steering skills (without using the reins) and trotting.

Star Riding Staff Sofia, Courtney, Fer, Paige, and Erina

Once the bell rang for 5th period, Star Staff Fer de Maria was on her way to Arts and Crafts, while Paige, Courtney, Sofia, and Erina made their way to the next fun adventure with campers.  Star Staff Lindsay was found working on Co-Ed Show moves and Star Staff Dan (and Cook Extraordinaire) was in the kitchen making Congo Bars and getting ready for Taco Bar.  It was reported that Star Staff Amanda, April, and Brianna were in on making a camper favorite, lasagne, for lunch.  Rumor had it that Star Ancillary Staff Chet had a much deserved day off!

Star Staff (and Cook Extraordnaire) Dan

The campers (without any prompting) have decided to award “Counselor of the Day” in a similar fashion to the “Camper of the Day” recognition that is given by the Happy Hostess every morning at assembly.  We have a WONDERFUL group of counselors and staff this year, and we can’t THANK them enough for all they do!!!

Woodland Counselors and Staff, WE LOVE YOU!

J*, Lee, and Kim

Sam (right)

Dear Mom & Dad,

I’ve had the easy job. From the summer when I was nine, my job has been to come to Northern Wisconsin and grow into myself by learning how to ride, canoe, and shoot bows and arrows at camp. I lived with my best friends who are now my sisters and lost track of time in the warm summer haze.

Now seventeen, I recently figured out that your reality for the past nine summers has been very different from mine. While my days were punctuated with bells ringing and counselors cheering, you were at your job waiting for the mail truck to deliver one of my elusive letters. I avoided homesickness because I was at camp, my second home, while you missed your daughter because there was no one to greet you when you came home from work.  I had the easy part – I was able to live, love and laugh in a place where I belonged unconditionally. I became a stronger swimmer than you, Dad, and rode in first hour just like you, Mom. While you were at home, your two daughters were away at different sleep away camps for almost the entire summer.

For years, when other parents looked at me in disbelief and asked how you could possibly send me away for six weeks, I always smiled and said that you were happy to rid yourself of me for the summer; it was our break from each other. There’s a better reason, a truer reason, and I want to apologize for not giving it at the time. That reason is that you were willing to put aside your own selfish wants of having your child home because you knew that letting me go to camp for six weeks was the absolute best thing that could ever happen to me.

You were willing to let me go and let me figure out myself on my own terms. This allowed me to be independent and become a little more self-sufficient every time I came home.  You didn’t get frustrated with me during the summers when I barely wrote, and you never hinted at being insulted when I mentioned I wasn’t homesick at all during my time away.

You knew I loved you very much, and you let me love you from afar. You let me learn to love others who weren’t related to me in a way I was told only families love each other. You let me love a place with a different family to the same degree if not more than the love I have for my biological family and childhood home. Your selflessness gave me the opportunity I needed to be selfish for a few weeks each summer so that I could learn how to be selfless, too.

For all of this and more, I THANK YOU. Thank you for giving me nine summers in the Northwoods at Camp Woodland. Thank you for being tough when I wasn’t and letting me be tough when all you wanted was to carry me. Thank you for being camp parents, and thank you for letting me stand on my own feet. Thank you for giving me a place where I automatically belong and giving me two homes to love. More than anything, thank you for loving me and letting me love camp.

Sam with Cabin at Ropes Course

I love you and will see you soon,

Sam E

2^nd year JC

2^nd generation Camp Woodland Girl

Natalie just finished her freshman year at University of Wisconsin!  We are so happy to have Natalie back at the waterfront.  Your daughters are going to have a great time learning how to sail with Natalie!  She has been sailing at Camp Woodland since she has been 8 years old.  Read Natalie’s blog about what this summer’s theme means to her….

Natalie (Middle)

No matter what grade you’re in—whether it’s fourth, or your junior year in high school—the school year is stressful. You wake up early and tirelessly absorb new material throughout the day. You make plans with friends and go to the mall on weekends and do your homework late at night to get it in on time. Of course it’s fun and exciting, but by May the process has become a little redundant, and you’re ready for the summer. And when summer comes, when it’s finally time to head back up to the north woods of Wisconsin again, you want to fall back into a pattern that’s relaxing, easy, and, most of all, familiar.

This summer’s theme—Dare to Explore in 1-4—challenges that instinct in the best way. In fact, it started doing that right from the beginning, when choosing the theme became an activity in which the whole camp could participate. This theme was chosen by the campers, for the campers, and it is already on the way to living up to its potential.

Natalie & her cabin – Sunnyside

Dare to Explore is a mantra that is there to remind you to leap outside of your comfort zone. Instead of heading up to camp with the intent to only participate in your favorite activities (and maybe a rec swim), try something different! Don’t stick to the skills you already know are your best; instead, sign up for something you’ve never done before—be it drama, or canoeing, or maybe passing up an evening activity of soccer to hone those beach volleyball techniques. Trying something new is the way you found the activities you love in the first place, after all.

Natalie teaching Sailing!

Camp is a place where you go to feel safe and welcome. It’s a place that is familiar without ever being boring. But do you truly know everything there is to know about it? Have you tried all of the evening activities, participated in every Olympic event? This summer, like every other summer, Camp Woodland is placing the new opportunities into your hands—and this is your renewed chance to take them. Jump in, get involved, and don’t just put a toe outside of your comfort zone—live outside of it. There are few other places in the world where you will get the same amazing chances that you do at camp, so take advantage of the short time you have! Sail every boat, ride every horse, pass every level physically possible. And if it doesn’t all get done this summer? That’s more than okay! You have many more summers ahead of you to try again. But Dare to Explore in the summer of 2014, because the time to start is now.

Welcome back Natalie!

We are so happy that Lindsay K. will be returning to camp this summer! This veteran has been coming to camp since she was 7 years old.  Lindsay just finished her freshman year of college in Colorado, and is excited to be taking on new challenges this summer!

Every year, we put a lot of thought into our summer theme.  We tend to think summer themes are a vehicle to get campers thinking their goals and what they want to get out of the most during their summer at camp. Enjoy Lindsay’s perspective on this  summer’s theme: Dare To Explore in 1-4!

Lindsay (Left) & Jenny (right). Jenny is back too!

 You can dare to explore by trying new things.  Camp offers a multitude of opportunities to dare.  Sure, it could be water skiing, riding, or sailing.  But don’t be fooled.  There are many skills which camp teaches that are even more meaningful. Dare to make a new friend or to try a new activity.  Camp offers a place to grow and learn new things about yourself that aren’t always possible at home or at school. Camp offers the opportunity to spend six weeks with girls from different countries, to learn about their cultures, and to create bonds.    

 Daring to try a new activity can turn out to be the best decision you can make at camp. I was always afraid to go sailing, but after I tried it, I realized how fun it is.  I went from being intimidated by sailing to considering it one of my favorite activities.  Dare to explore reminds us to always give something a chance; put yourself out there and try something new. 

 Camp is a place where you get to be you and always be accepted for it. It’s somewhere you can go for six weeks, play like a kid, and learn adult life lessons.  Oh yes, the North Woods is pretty darn awesome.  The location offers the opportunity to be in nature and see how beautiful the world can be.  Forget iPods, phones, Facebook, and tweets.  Think campfires, Sand Lake, and all the tall pine and birch trees.  Its easy to dare – the setting makes you feel so safe.

 No life vest, helmets or safety goggles required to get the most out of this summer’s theme. Dare to Explore in 1-4 is just a reminder to live the summer to the fullest, take advantage of opportunities, push yourself to try something new, and expand as a person.  

Welcome back Lindsay!!