When my children were growing up, I always told them the same thing whenever they were nervous about trying something new.
“You don’t have to hit a home run. Just get in the batter’s box and hit a single.”
The hardest part is often having the courage to step up to the plate in the first place. You don’t need to be perfect, you don’t need to have all the answers; you simply need to be willing to take your swing.
Camp is much the same.
People often imagine camp as six-and-a-half weeks of nonstop excitement, bandannas, warpaint, cheering crowds, campfires, and laughter from morning until night. While those moments certainly exist, camp is also a microcosm of the real world, and not everyday is a home run. Like life, it asks us to navigate unfamiliar situations, build relationships, and occasionally work through moments that are uncomfortable or even sad. Whether you’re a first-year camper or a seasoned counselor, everyone spends the opening days adjusting, managing expectations, and finding their footing.
One of the greatest benefits of a traditional full-season summer camp experience is that we truly get to know one another. Living side by side, sharing meals, competing on the fields, and winding down together each evening creates a level of familiarity that simply can’t be replicated anywhere else. Some of the boys who arrived as strangers just a few days ago are already beginning to feel like lifelong friends.
I often receive calls from first-time parents wondering how their sons are adjusting. It’s an understandable question, but it’s easy to underestimate just how much these boys have accomplished in less than a week. They’ve learned the names of their bunkmates and counselors. They’re navigating camp with growing confidence, making their beds, organizing their belongings, remembering their equipment, and discovering routines that quickly become second nature. These are all tasks that, just days ago, were being done for them at home.
Perhaps most importantly, our boys are beginning to build friendships. The unfamiliar has become familiar, and they’re getting into the swing of things.
The forecast tells us the heat won’t be with us much longer, and by Sunday we’ll once again be enjoying cooler Maine temperatures. The boys have stepped into the batter’s box, they’ve taken their swings, they’ve gotten on base, and the game of summer has only just begun.
