Twenty-two years ago, following two years as a counselor in the early 80s, I returned to camp as Assistant Director/Program Director At that time I wrote an article for the SSYMCA Staff Newsletter about the role camp plays in building our leaders of tomorrow and the impact camp has on the counselors.
Almost another 22 years later and at the age of 61 I’d like to reflect on the impact camp has had on my life.
In 1982 I arrived at Burgess as a naive and shy individual. Coming from the UK to a camp that was still mainly American was a shock. Camp forced me to get out of my comfort zone, to take chances, and talk to strangers, making them friends. I liked it so much that I returned in 1985.
In the year 1999, my life was in crisis. My instinct was to go to a safe place. So, in November 1999 I picked up a telephone and called the SSYMCA and was put in contact with Lloyd Ewart, the then-current Burgess Director, who interviewed me and offered me the role of Assistant Director/Program Director.
Camp in the Summer of 2000 was medicine for the soul. I worked long hours for fun, soaked up the beauty that is Cape Cod, and healed. My training as a teacher helped me organise the counselor staff and the kids in a large number of activities including the ALA, M+P and co-ed activities.
On my return to the UK I resumed teaching and I was clear enough in my mind to realise that my mental health needed serious treatment. This duly happened and carries on today.
In the intervening years between 1985 and 2000 camp had changed physically, particularly the buildings, and had many more international staff (over 20 nationalities in 2000!), but the ethos and atmosphere had not changed a bit.
My career has been a success in the last 21 years because of Camp in 2000. I returned again in 2001, 2002 and 2005 as pontoon boat driver (a couple of summers as a volunteer) but that millennial summer was a turning point in my life. Two of my roles since then illustrate this. In 2008 I went to Abu Dhabi were I worked, first in one Emirati school, then seven, as school lead and consultant partnership teacher introducing new English/Arabic Science curricula into local schools, observing teachers and helping them improve and i/c Health and Safety in 23 schools. I had been informed that my success was down to being culturally sensitive and understanding, something I put attribute directly to my work at Camp.
In 2019, my wife and I sold up, gave most of our assets to her two boys to enable them to get a mortgage deposit each, and made our way to the Algarve, Southern Portugal, where I have set up a new Science department in a new international school, Algarve International School. Again, I can attribute my success to camp and working then with so many people from so many different countries and backgrounds.
I only attended Camp as an adult. And the effect Camp had on my life is the story of just one person.
But this story is replicated in different ways with adults across America, Canada and internationally. People who understand the good in people, who can see through the false haze of nationalism, who are doing good in their communities, who are competent top-level managers and directors.
People who would never have found the courage to do what they do now if it wasn’t for camp.
Tim Fry can be contacted at tnfry@hotmail.com