June 29, 2014, on a sunny Sunday was my first day of camp in Williamstown, Massachusetts: Overland New England Service. While I had the awkward first-day jitters and anxiety about feeling homesick, I was also filled with excitement to make new friends and participate in unforgettable activities that I do not have the opportunity to do during the school year. Despite those mixed feelings, the day turned out to be better than I anticipated. I loved how all fourteen of us, including two counselors (one male and one female), lived in a small house-like dorm at Williams College for two weeks, creating a tight small group setting. This made forming deep friendships a task that took very little effort, which made me so comfortable with my group even on the first day, that I was not homesick. We were always together, whether it was riding in a van, going out, eating meals, or doing service activities.
A typical morning would be spent at a school just a few blocks away from our dorm, called Williamstown Elementary School, with a counselor and us twelve campers tutoring at a summer program called Reading & Recreation for thirteen rising second and third graders with challenges in reading and phonics. A regular day at camp would be spent listening to a phonics lesson taught by a teacher, whether it was distinguishing consonants from vowels, or hearing a story about a letter of the alphabet that would help the children remember the sound of the letter. As an example, the children would remember how to pronounce the short U by saying up while also using both hands to point upwards making a U formation with their body. How creative! After the lesson, we would work with our little buddies on the skill lesson by having them pronounce words.
My buddy was not only my tutee but she was also my best friend. Not only we did work together, we also had an hour of recreation which was spent playing with my buddy where she taught me to make a lizard with string and beads. We also went on the playground. As a sixteen-year-old, playing on the playground is enjoyable if I am playing with a seven-year-old. One hour of recreation was long enough for the children to break from working. This followed half an hour of reading aloud a story to my buddy. While this was meant to give children the opportunity to improve their reading skills, it was relaxing as they would closely listen to the text being spoken and wonder what would happen next. I also let my buddy read the story to me to make me feel proud that she drastically improved in this area from spending two weeks at camp. All these thirteen tutees were so lucky to receive one-on-one attention, which they benefited immensely from. I remember having tutors for homework and piano who I not only saw them as my tutors but I saw them as my friends. They were so incredibly caring, selfless, and fun. I took this with me as I was a tutor at the Reading & Recreation program.
A typical afternoon would be spent doing mundane yet meaningful tasks that contributed to the Berkshires community. I went to some farms to tidy up gardens by tirelessly tugging weeds from the ground underneath the roasting climate. I cleaned up debris by lifting up tree bark off the ground. A farm had hungry goats and horses so I gave them food. I also spent one day working on a hiking trail by using a cutting tool to clip off plants that were obstructing hiking trails. Farms and hiking trails were places that I do not see back in Brookline, my hometown, which is a suburb of Boston. From doing those activities in these settings, I gained a deep understanding of what it is like to live in a rural town far away from the city. Rural towns offer opportunities that are extremely rare in cities such as farming and hiking. As a person living in an urban area for her whole life, I was not used to being in farms and seeing hiking trails in the woods. However, being in a new environment is about enjoying the activities there that you cannot find back at home.
This idea was emphasized during our weekend together when I did some activities that were mostly ones I have never done before. It kicked off with white-water rafting along a river. We rode on an inflatable boat the plunged down on cascades of choppy water with jagged rocks dispersed like chocolate chips. The water would be the cookie dough. The water splashed on us as we screamed of joy like we were on a rollercoaster. After getting our clothes soaked, we headed to a state park where we went camping. We slept in tents that were between a slew of skyscraping trees and a rocky river. The next day was spent hiking the colossus 3,491 feet Mount Greylock. Walking uphill for a long time was a painful task as it made me exhausted but I had the motivation to not give up as I was dying to reach the summit, where the beauty of New England was clearly showcased, as well as lick some mouthwatering ice cream. Reaching the summit was an important moment for me as it is my home state's highest point. I have really come to explore my home state more this summer making me become more worldly. I am so lucky to have been part of this trip, otherwise, I would be at home surfing on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube 24/7. During this trip, we were not allowed to use any technology except for good old digital cameras. While I sometimes missed checking my phone, I really liked this rule because it forced us to have the full camp experience by connecting with friends face-to-face and making the most out of summer activities as they are not available year round. Back in Brookline, I cannot find a place to go white-water rafting, camping, or hike a mountain.
At the end of every day, before tucking ourselves in blankets, the fourteen of us would come together for Dessert Circle, a time for us to wind down together and eat dessert, of course. A group journal, that gets updated every day with creative ways, such as pictures drawn and poems written, to talk about what happened during the day. Next, a poem from Shel Silverstein's Where The Sidewalk Ends is read aloud to the group by one person. The purpose of reading a poem is to see the world's beauty through poetry as Overland is about seeing the beauty of being outdoors. Where The Sidewalk Ends was chosen as our poem book because it is a very popular children's book as we work with them every weekday. Then, each of us would share our low(s) and high(s) of the day before giving "cheers" (same as a shoutout) to anyone who did something good. Often, answering a random question would follow. Questions include: If you could live anywhere, where would it be? What app would you create? What is your favorite Disney movie? Why did you come to Overland? I love Dessert Circle because it shows the beauty of a tight community and we can share our thoughts about our day with everybody. I love doing the "cheers" because it has helped increase my confidence socially, which was one of the most important things I took home with me after the trip.
I love Overland New England Service more than any other camp I have ever gone to. I became close friends with everybody in my group. I made my friends laugh and I was nice to them. I also decided to sing a solo of Vanessa Carlton’s “A Thousand Miles” in front of them and they applauded. Most importantly, they were always there for me even in my toughest of times. Whenever I was stuck socially, my friends said the nicest things about me and told me that people will like me for who I am so I should not change myself. Two years later, my feelings about this trip never changed and it is safe to say that I have found some lifelong friends. I hope to create an "Overland" like community wherever I go. I encourage all of you to spend a good amount of time comforting anyone you know who is feeling down. Remind them of how beautiful they are inside and out, periodically tell them how amazing they are, and give meaningful advice to them that can most likely stick with them forever.
