Week 7:
The time has come for ACTION CAMP

August 10, 2019

This week was the highlight of my internship. On Sunday morning, I packed up my clothes and bedding and headed to Action Camp, first picking up another counselor on the ops team, Donnie. The drive wasn’t too bad, clocking in at less than two hours. I arrived at camp greeted by a bunch of other counselors and youth leaders. Counselors greeted those they already knew as we hung around the parking area waiting for the majority of counselors to arrive. Bunk counselors are responsible for a bunk of four to seven campers who often share a sleeping area with other bunks in a cabin. The first day of camp is actually day zero, where counselors and youth leaders receive last minute training and prepare camp for campers. 

I was assigned to the cabin Idle-a-While along with three other ops counselors and one of our camp nurses. We were fortunate enough to have air conditioning and indoor bathrooms, though the window AC unit did not reach the small room where we slept in. I was lucky enough to bond with ops counselors Robin, Eli, and Gregory as we spent a lot of time living and working together that week. The day ended with roasting marshmallows behind our HQ building, Lenona. I had the opportunity to get to know John a bit more, who is a social work student and intern at Youth Services. That evening I had great fun sharing stories with my fellow ops counselors in Idle-a-While, despite the muggy state of the room.

On day one, we brought continental breakfast supplies to our  cabin as well as lunch items for hungry campers. As campers arrived to our cabin in waves, I got to greet them as they set up their bed and made their warm fuzzy bag and name tag. Warm fuzzies are encouragement notes that campers and counselors write to each other throughout camp. They are meant to be read on the ride home from camp.

A big part of camp and my work at Youth Services is doing introductions with pronouns. All campers and counselors write their pronouns on their name tag, and we introduce ourselves saying our name and pronouns. For example, my name is Oliver and I use they/them pronouns. Many campers are questioning their gender and so we try to provide a safe space for campers to try out new names and new pronouns. We also have many trans young people so whenever I forget a camper’s pronouns, I just ask them again. One of my favorite parts of camp was the transgender caucus. The caucus took place during workshop time and is for people with a shared identity to come together, in this case, all participants were trans. Youth leaders facilitated this caucus. We started with introductions and then took some time to write and draw out our transition timeline which we all got to share. It was extremely encouraging to hear about how others questioned their identity and tried out different labels before settling on one. I was also inspired by all the courage young trans people have in coming out to parents and teachers that are not always the most affirming.

As an ops counselor, part of my role is to lead activities. I led tie dye with Eli, as can be seen on my feature photo. Other counselors led a hike to a really beautiful part of camp with water to wade in. Thankfully the bugs at camp weren’t too bad. Swimming is a very important part of camp, as it is one of the few opportunities for gender-affirming swimming. Many campers and counselors wore binders, a compression garment for transmasculine folks. Action Camp has a body positive dress code in which campers can wear whatever they want as long as their nipples, genitals, and butts are covered. This means that campers can swim without a shirt as long as their nipples are covered, regardless of the type of chest they have.

The mixer was a very magical dance event that inspired all of the beautiful fairy decorations and lights. I was so grateful that a camper made me a beautiful flower crown to wear. The talent show was also fantastic. I really enjoyed a camper performing a dramatic reading of the song Karma Chameleon. Our co-director Nat danced to the Spice Girls with some other counselors which was fantastic. I was a part of the Youth Services Choir where we sang The Rainbow Connection by Kermit the Frog, as pictured below.

On the final day of camp after our closing circle when we had to take down the rainbow and trans flag all 100 of us sang Toxic by Britney Spears while saluting the flag. It was truly a magical  time. 

When I got home on Friday I was exhausted and ready for my own bed. I am so grateful for all the mentorship and connection I received at camp and I hope to return next year as a volunteer. Next week is my final week as a Youth Services intern, and so my final blog will feature some reflections and potentially more pictures from camp.