Who Do You Want To Be?
On Monday night, our Evening Program was Line Campfires. The four different age groups all met in their Lines, each at their own Campfire areas. This allowed each group to focus their conversations on the specific age and stage they’re at, meeting the campers where they are in their unique journeys. Peer interaction in mixed-age groups like this is important, since it serves as the foundation for many aspects of emotional development, including self-esteem, communication skills, and identity. Though each Line at camp has a range of ages, everyone in the Line is in a similar stage of development. This allows the boys to find common ground, while the slightly younger boys can build confidence and the slightly older boys can gain mentoring skills.
The oldest age group of campers are our Betulas, which are a range of 13-15 year old boys this session. Some are heading into their final year of middle school after the summer, and some will be returning to high school. Betula Line was named for the Yellow Birch (Betula alleghaniensis), which is often one of the first tree species to grow back after a forest fire, paving the way for others in the forest to grow. Each of our Lines embrace a part of the Falling Creek Code - As the oldest boys who lead by example and are expanding their horizons, this group embraces Warrior Spirit.
For the Line Campfire for Betula, the boys hiked up to the “top of the world” to admire the view, reflect on the session, and talk about the future. This area we call the “top of the world” is a wide field at the top of the old apple orchard, which looks out on a mountain scene of the Green River valley and the ridge that surrounds the bowl of camp. Matt, camp’s chaplain and the Betula line advisor, already had a fire lit and waiting for them as they hiked up the trail. This group of boys clearly enjoys each others’ company, as you could hear them hooting and hollering, singing and cheering, all the way up the trail.
At one point, their voices stopped growing nearer and started fading away. Matt radioed the leader, “are you guys still heading up towards us?” After a moment of silence, we got the response, “just realized we got a little off track, but we’re back in the right direction now!” We laughed at how they had been having too much fun just parading around the trails together.
The first two campers to arrive at the top were David and Lachlan, eager to be the first ones there. As they looked out at the sun getting lower over the mountains, David said “this is like those scenes in the movies where the main characters look out at the view and think about how good life is.” Once the rest of the boys and their counselors made it up to the top, they spread out around the campfire in the grass, with their faces to the mountain view.
Teenagers aren’t usually eager to open up or talk about feelings with each other, and knowing this, Matt had asked some counselors to share first. He asked them, “what do you wish you knew as a 13 or 14 year old?” Several counselors shared their advice, like recommending the boys slow down and enjoy this time in their life, instead of just wishing high school would go by quickly. One recommended they try their best in everything they do, instead of just doing the minimal effort needed to get by. Màtè, a first year counselor from the UK, said he would have told his younger self to listen to what everyone was saying that night, because his younger self would have dismissed the advice of older people.
After this, Matt turned the conversation to the boys. “What kind of person do you hope to be in 3-4 years after high school?” he asked them. The common theme repeated among them all was that they hoped to be known as a friend that others could come to - someone trustworthy, kind, friendly, and dependable.
This kind of reflection isn’t usually something that we do on our own, especially as teenagers when there’s so much else vying for our attention. However, these kinds of discussions are important when thinking about the future and the kind of person you want to become. Hopefully the boys thought it was helpful and grounding as well, but if nothing else, the Betula Line Campfire was a great chance to spend time together during the final week, amidst a beautiful natural setting. It’s hard to believe that today is our last full day of regular activities, so we’ll be relishing every moment together!