by Meghan Hill, Director of Business Operations and Alumni Relations
In continuing to cultivate an Attitude of Gratitude this month (and always…let’s make EVERY day Thanksgiving!), we decided to express our thanks for a special staff member today…let us introduce, the lovely Allie Singer…
BH: Hello, Allie! For starters, can you please tell us a bit about yourself with specifics pertaining to your Camp history?
AS: I started coming to Camp Hayward in 2003, and I was in cabin Kiwanis. Since then, I have been a CIT, JC, counselor, Unit Leader, and am now the Assistant Director. Outside of camp, I grew up in Natick, and then graduated from Syracuse University with a degree in psychology. My favorite activity to do is ski!
BH: If you could have dinner with anyone in the world, who would it be, and what would you talk about?
AS: Definitely Beyonce. We would talk about all of her life experiences, and then about how I would make the perfect nanny for her daughter, Blue Ivy. We would also discuss how as Blue’s nanny, I would need to follow Beyonce on her world tour.
BH: How would you explain a database in three sentences to your nine-year-old cousin?
AS: A database is a collection of information that is stored on a computer so that if you ever need to look something up, you can easily find what you are looking for. An example of a database would be a list of everyone in your school class’s names, birthdays, and addresses. If I wanted to find out when your birthday was, I could quickly look it up on my database!
BH: If you were going to be stranded on Pinkham Island for a week, what three items would you choose to have with you?
AS: If I were going to be stranded on Pinkham Island for a week, I would make sure to bring a warm sleeping bag, matches to start a fire, and a huge box of mac n’ cheese!
BH: How has your Camp experience shaped you as a person? How has it helped you shape others?
AS: Attending Camp Hayward for the past ten years has made me much more confident, outgoing, creative, and accepting of others. Camp has given me valuable friendships and taught me that the craziest of ideas can be the best ideas. As a counselor, I tried to pass on all of the skills and qualities I gained as a camper onto my own campers. I love watching my past campers come back year after year, and then seeing many of them become counselors themselves.
BH: If (Camp Hayward Director) Jessie gave you a giant goldfish, what would you do with it?
AS: I would first cry, and once I got over the fact that Jessie gave me what I would least want in the world, I would find the courage to move it to Jessie’s house. I think it would make a nice friend for Taco Cat.
BH: What would your refrigerator be full of if you just went food shopping? Ketchup?
AS: If I just went food shopping, or even if I hadn’t, there would definitely not be ketchup anywhere in my kitchen. There would, however, be lots of different kinds of fruit, cheese, and deli meat in my fridge.
BH: If you were a character from the TV show, “Friends,” who would you be? Which character would your character date?
AS: If I was in the show Friends, I think I would like to be my own character so that I could hang out with all of the existing characters! I would probably date Joey so that I don’t split up any of the other characters’ relationships…
BH: Where do you envision yourself in 10 years?
AS: In 10 years, I will hopefully have gone to graduate school and will be working at a college somewhere, most likely still in the New England area. If I have started a family already, then I will be preparing my children for the fact that they will one day be forced into attending summer camp…
“Everyone at camp loves Allie; she’s fun, enthusiastic, and hardworking. One second she can be comforting a homesick camper and the next be dressed up like dinosaur on the ballfield. It’s not easy to laugh with someone after tireless hours of making cabin lists, but she can always make me smile!” – Camp Hayward Director Jessie Williams