“What’s Camp Like?”
Perspectives from a first time international staff member
Selene Piazzoli is a lifeguard from Italy who worked at SLC for the first time this summer. She wrote a reflection piece after her time at Surprise Lake.
Many people have asked me, “What’s Camp like?”
Camp is life without phones or any technologic devices, enjoying the nature and the people, hanging out with the same people you work and live with and never getting tired of them. Camp is my beloved waterfront, the sand everywhere, the clear water of the lake, turtles and snakes, the crazy splash, the diving dock and all the floats, the kayaks and stand up paddle boards, sailboats and rowboats, and boat patrol. It’s jumping in the water no matter the weather, cause if the floats fly away somebody has to get them, it’s “on me” and the scariest five minutes of your life. It’s “be there five minutes before to set up”, it’s stand under the sun and go eat every meal wet and stinky but happy, because the best jobs is yours.
It’s teaching kids not to be afraid of the lake, at first being scared when you see them under the water even for a few seconds, because at some point they become your kids. Camp is pool parties and night swims. Camp is going over from Teenside to Mainside because you miss the rest of the family. Camp is the late breakfast on Saturday and everyone happy to sleep thirty minutes extra, it’s Moo Moo’s shirts on Monday, it’s “make sure you wear sunscreen,” it’s climbing into bed in the evening and jumping out in the morning trying to be as quiet as possible.
Camp is Shabbat and Havdalah, services at the Eddie Cantor Theater, it’s Olympic breakout, the slideshow that I haven’t seen because I was crying, it’s hafsakah. Camp is love, fun and laughter, but it’s also pain, stress, sadness and tears (especially when it’s the end). Camp is family, community, it’s sharing things and feelings, it’s being surprised of how many similarities you can find with others. Camp is the laundry that loses your socks. Camp is big trips to Walmart, (I guess they can tell when it’s summer because of us) it’s dinners at the Red Line Diner, deli sandwiches, Cold Spring Pizza and Moo Moo’s ice cream, it’s stargazing and then falling asleep because you’re tired.
What to say… Camp is a lot of things. It’s the place where I left my heart first of all, it’s where my family is, where I met the amazing people I cried for.
Before I got here, I was afraid of the news, of the changes, and now I’m afraid of the amount of time before I can get back. I just wanted to say that Camp is unexplainable, it’s something that deserves to be lived and I would recommend to lots of friends. It’s the kind of place that you’ll never want to leave and straight after, you’ll feel empty.
I couldn’t imagine how fast this summer would fly and how great it would be. I wish I had a magical way to get back to the beginning, because yes it’s was extremely tiring but so satisfying and intense that I could never have enough!
