We are coming up on the worldwide #CampTShirt day on November 14th and we’re excited to join in on the fun. To see all of our CampWeequahic campers and staff showing off their camp spirit that day would be fantastic. Preparing for the day got me thinking of our campers who are literally from all over the world.
Weequahic by the Numbers
Here are some fun facts about where our Summer 2017 campers came from:
- 11.5% of our campers this summer came from 14 different countries. These include Spain, France, Mexico, China, Thailand, Russia, Italy, Canada, Columbia, Czechoslovakia, Uruguay, Japan, Belarus, and Switzerland.
- 88.5% of our campers were from fifteen different states spanning every corner (literally!) of the United States.
- The state from which most of our campers come from? New York with Maryland, Florida, and New Jersey all tied for second place.
And, if you add in our 225 team members (why wouldn’t you as they are a huge part of the experience!), you get another six countries and twelve more states. Wow!@
Citizens of the World
While the physical size of the world has not changed much at all over the past billion years, our ability to connect with others in distant lands has improved in countless ways.
I have plenty of camp stories about kids staying up a little too late in Italy to facetime with their buddies in California. I’ve seen best friends (one from Moscow and the other from NJ) spend time together apart from camp. I’ve got personal experience in taking my boys to see their best friends in the world… all over the world.
Camp, it turns out, is a bit like the United Nations. Some alum families tell me that being a part of the camp experience prepared their children for college in ways no school could match. Being a part of our community allows people to connect to others from different cultures, places, and experiences and prepares them for a wonderful future.
The best news? Regardless from whence they come, all in our community have something in common – the love of creating amazing experiences the Camp Weequahic way.
This allows our campers to literally travel to every continent and know someone who lives there. (Well… ok, I’m still trying to get a penguin to camp. The Antarctic visa process is really tough!) And that aspect of Weequahic truly opens eyes and hearts and minds… and doors.
Combine this with the independence, teamwork, maturity, and curiosity our campers develop while at Weequahic and you’ve some pretty well prepared young people for the world around them.
So, campers, here’s the takeaway. If you keep your eyes and hearts open, you can build friendships with people from almost every major culture in the world. Sure, you may not speak the same language back home as your new buddy or mentor. However, you all are fluent in ‘CAMP’ and that can really open up your world.
Camp Weequahic Pride
We hope you’ll join us on November 14, 2017 by wearing a piece of your Camp Weequahic gear. If you care to, please share a photo of yourself on Instagram and Facebook with some CW clothing. Make sure to tag us at @campweequahic1953 on Instagram and @campweequahic on Facebook. Also, please use the #camptshirtday in your post.
I hope you and your family have a fantastic week!
Cole
