A Former Counselor

I got this email from an old counselor this week… she agreed to let me share it. I was going to cut and paste segments into a blog but as I tried to do so just now, I couldn’t cut anything out. It is a great letter… makes me want one of my children to go to UVA!

I share it with you just to show what the counselors are like, what lessons they learn working at camp. These young men and women are top drawer. Wonderful mentors and role models. None of them work here for the fame, fortune, or resume enhancement. It is an act of service and love… that attitude is rewarded with an experience that transforms them in a thousand ways. I am always humbled when I see how exceptional they are.

One of Elise’s former campers Liddy Blinko was so impacted by Elise’s summer as a counselor that Liddy’s mom immediately recognized Elise from her opening paragraph… she sent me these photos from that transformative summer… it was very sweet!

So if you are interested, read on:

Dear JimBoy,

I’m not sure if you remember me, but I was a counselor in the summers of 2008 and 2009, teaching canoeing among various other activities. I absolutely loved my time there, even though family commitments and jobs got in the way of my returning in the past three summers. It seems silly to say, but I guess life got in the way. I graduated from UVa last year, I’m now living in Washington, DC, and I trade commodity futures – it is terribly dull. As you can guess, I would much rather be on Lake Edith with a paddle in hand than at my desk with a Wall Street Journal.

I know you all just started Main Camp this week, and just I wanted to send you my best and wish you a wonderful summer. It’s amazing to me how much I think about camp every single day, and how much it changed my outlook on (and therefore the outcome of) my life. I enjoyed my time as a cabin counselor – like all counselors, I have fond memories of rolling down the pageant court with my campers, telling them to hush during rest hour while trying to suppress a giggle about some sort of note-passing contraption they had built behind their bunks, and roasting s’mores on our overnight. I also remember the time that my frustration at them brought me to tears and that I spent many an EP talking to my campers outside of the Pavilion – trying to get two factions of girls to get along or something like that. Camp is a wonderful mix of these memories, though of course, mostly the good ones. I like to think that someday, if I’m running some sort of international coffee business, I’ll be able to get Brazil and Kenya to agree on a trade agreement after we have a derived form of a friendship circle.

On a personal (and maybe somewhat selfish) level, camp absolutely changed my own outlook on life. The lessons that I picked up from JimDaddy’s breakfast club have been invaluable to me as I continue on whatever course my life is headed. “You have everything to look forward to and nothing to dread” is now my mantra. It transformed my study abroad experience in 2010, my fourth year of college, and now the uncharted course of my life. I went from stumbling through life to instead relishing each and every day as a treasure, bringing me new challenges and lessons to learn. Sometimes, when I feel as though things have brought me down, whether with work, friendships, or just mild setbacks, I realize that these things don’t really matter. I DO have everything to look forward to. I am the only person in charge of my life, and I can either accept it or make the best of it. I know you don’t need a testimonial, and you all started drinking from the Breakfast Club Kool-Aid long before I was there, but I really mean it when I say camp changed my life! I have not had a “bad day” since 2009.

Finally, the other thing that I perhaps miss the most about camp are the values that are celebrated at Greystone. In the “real” world, as you are well aware, there can be some nasty things – scorpions, as JimDaddy would have said. Not to exaggerate, because my life is wonderful, but I am confronted sometimes with selfishness, inconsiderate-ness, dishonesty, and other not so pleasant characteristics of human nature. But at camp, these things aren’t tolerated, and the Council Fire virtues – sincerity, courage, honesty, kindness, and truth – are truly manifested in the spirit of Greystone. When I think back to why Greystone is such a special place for me, it has nothing to do with the blob, the canoes, 4th of July Carnival, or Window #1. It’s because the spirit of Greystone – “unselfishness” – truly exists. It’s a joyful place because of the love and care that your mother, your family, and all the campers and staff respect and cherish. The legacy that your wonderful family has left on Greystone, from the Seviers down to the Millers, is truly special. Movies on the pageant court, overnights, and counselor talent were some of my favorite EPs, but when I think back to Council Fire, when we had moments to reflect on the beauty of camp and God’s earth – I think that tops all of my favorite EPs. It was there that I realized that the reason we (or maybe just me) loved camp so much, is exactly what Libby was saying – everyone is unselfish (or tries to be). Why can’t the whole world be like that?

I know you don’t need another testimonial about how wonderful a place Greystone is, but I guess I’m writing to let you know that I am thinking and praying for a wonderful summer for all of you. It is such a special place for me, and I still think about camp regularly, three years later. I wonder to myself, “Where would I be right now if I could have gone back?” And yes, I still creepily get on the website to see the updates of what’s been going on at camp, even though I haven’t been back in years.

Thank you for my wonderful summers, have another fantastic summer, and please know that I am thinking and praying about the whole Greystone family!

Sincerely,

Elisa Bennett