10 for2- Mantra for girls who spend their summers enmeshed in the experience that is Camp Mataponi. As the assistant tennis director making my way to “vacationland” from the summer sauna that is Houston, TX for the 1st time 5 years ago, I had no idea as to the depth this saying holds. Having spent 20 years educating and coaching I figured I knew all the angles to reaching kids and molding minds for a better tomorrow. And, hey, if this summer camp “gig” doesn’t float my boat (you must eat lobster- it’s a rite of passage when in Maine), I can tolerate anything for 8 weeks, right?
10 for 2- Gradually, the camp experience seems to lay the foundation for what is good and right in life- it’s finding yourself once again walking the path leading to your bunk; it’s the exhilaration of representing, and for me, coaching the green and white @inter-camps; and it’s the bonding of camp sisters and camp staff that establishes ties that cross oceans and decades of time.
10 for 2- Reference points for the “real” world have points of origin that stem from camp life: I look to see the weather for Portland, ME before my own; I see cool T-shirt graphics and think, hey, that would be a cool staff-shirt design; and all other ice cream shops are simply pretenders!
10 for 2- does it stir something in you?
By Chip Downey
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