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Camp Teaches Kids About Camaraderie

“Camaraderie” was my word of the summer in 2013. In general, it is one of my most favourites. 

Incase you aren’t familiar with it, here’s a definition from Apple’s Dictionary:

camaraderie, noun
mutual trust and friendship among people who spend a lot of time together: a genuine camaraderie on the hockey team.

I came to really understand Camaraderie last summer at camp. A group of us were asked to assemble and set up the canoe docks that were stacked away for the winter. I wouldn’t say that any of us were "experts" at assembling this heavy steel structure, but, we’re camp people of course, so we are adaptable, clever and if not anything else, willing.

There are a ton of factors that into getting the docks together and placed safely, as we learned that day. Another thing that we learned that day was the beauty of tackling those factors together. It wasn’t easy, and that was important; It required multiple perspectives, which was important, and most of all, it required for us to be a cohesive, and adaptable team.

I’ll never forget that afternoon at camp. It could have just been meaningless grunt-work, but it so much more. Something that camp taught me that afternoon was through camaraderie, any task can become a relationship strengthening activity.

We were thrilled to have Mieke Barette from Camp Wenonah join us on the show to dive into why the lesson of camaraderie is something that she learned at summer camp, and is something that she uses regularly in her job in the Music Faculty at Wilfrid Laurier University.

I hope that you leave this podcast with a new found love for camaraderie. I would love to chat with you about it sometime!

Happy camping,
-Iscus

Tangible Take-Aways - Applying camp’s lessons to your life

Arae - Use a friend (perhaps the same friend from Episode 1) and get outside and share an experience together.

Iscus - Have a CRAZY camaradic experience! Use this list for inspiration: http://www.tickld.com/x/20-awesome-date-ideas-

Mieke - At least 3 times, offer people in your workplace a hand with one of their tasks. Remember that even the smallest, most “meaningless” tasks hold an opportunity for Camaraderie !

Please feel free to comment below on how you did with our challenges. Good luck!

Your Hosts

Mieke Barette, Outreach and Student Recruitment Coordinator At Wilfrid Laurier University & Camp Wenonah Staff Member

Matt Honsberger, Co-Host - The Because of Summer Camp Podcast

Ian Paton, Co-Host - The Because of Summer Camp Podcast