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WHAT CAMPERS MAY GAIN AT ALC

 

At ALC, we prioritize building a community that empowers girls and young adults to further solidify their self-esteem, to reach out with empathy, to improve their communication, and to become more flexible with the unknowns of everyday. In our ever-changing and competitive world, we believe that ALC campers, CTs, and counselors leave camp better prepared to tackle the challenges they face and emerge as valued and productive citizens of the world. These traits are often cited as the qualities that define the success and happiness of future leaders in our world.

 

The Alford Lake Camp community includes thousands of alumni, many of whom remain actively connected with ALC and often reflect on the impact their time at camp had on their lives today. Aside from skippering a boat or developing a ‘mean’ tennis serve, alumni most often talk about their personal development at camp. Read “Meet our Alumni” to learn more about a few alumni and how they feel their time at ALC was a formative experience.

 

At ALC campers gain:

  • Empathy: Living in a tent with four or five other campers teaches the importance of caring about and being sensitive to the people around you.

  • Willingness to learn: Campers arrive at camp with different skills and experiences. They quickly discover that they may not be an expert at everything and that ALC provides a community where it’s ok to say “I don’t know how to do that,” and campers are excited to learn.

  • Self-confidence: Simply living away from home and making new friends builds self-confidence. Success in activities and taking risks to try something unknown or challenging, such as the climbing wall or an overnight trip, also helps to enable campers to believe more strongly in themselves. Most of all, campers get to be a part of a community where each individual is loved, valued and supported for who she is. Campers and staff are given the space to try, perhaps fail, perhaps succeed, but always are encouraged to give their best effort. After a summer surrounded by people who believe in her, a camper’s belief in herself grows exponentially.

  • Positive Attitude, Motivation, Energy, and Passion: Counselors, CTs and older campers again serve as role models for these personal qualities and all campers quickly discover that a positive attitude makes hiking easier or energetic singing can brighten a rainy day. Campers get swept up into a community that is filled with energy and passion.

  • Loyalty: ALC campers and counselors spend the winter months counting down the days until camp begins again. Eager to return to their “home away from home”, they are fiercely loyal both to their friends and to ALC.

  • Dependability, Reliability, and Responsibility: Even the youngest campers quickly learn that the community depends on them. Whether learning their lines for the Saturday Night Theater, helping to set the Dining Room tables, or striving to speak with sensitivity and kind words, campers learn the importance of their role in the community.

  • Dedication, Work-ethic, and Tenacity: Counselors and CTs serve as role models as they work 24 hours a day to provide a loving, safe, happy community for campers. Older campers begin to demonstrate their tenacity as they work to master levels in activities, pass their S.O.A.R., or volunteer for jobs around camp. Younger campers learn dedication and perseverance at activities every day - whether landing the cartwheel on the balance beam or learning to dive, or recognizing that individual success takes hard work and follow through.

  • Honesty and Integrity: Each summer, ALCers quickly learn and hear about the importance of living with honesty and integrity. We encourage all members of the community to be themselves, to value each individual and his or her contributions to the community. We expect all members of the community to act with good will, honesty and integrity.

  • Teamwork: Whether creating a job rotation chart in the tent to evenly divide the clean-up responsibilities, writing a song together for the song contest, or playing games during Evening Activities and helping younger campers join the fun, teamwork abounds at ALC and campers and counselors recognize how important it is to be part of a group and community together.

  • Decision Making/Planning/Organizing: Campers look at their schedule for the day and see their choices. They plan which activities they want to do when, and learn to do this with the support of their counselors. They are urged to accept the responsibility for organizing their own belongings and helping, along with their tent mates, to keep their tent neat and tidy.

  • Multicultural Sensitivity/Awareness: With campers and staff coming from around the country and the world, horizons broaden and campers learn to respect and celebrate differences.

  • Leadership: As they gain confidence, ALC campers may take the lead in activities or on out-of-camp trips. As they grow older, they may help mentor younger campers, especially if they return as Counselor Trainees and/or Counselors. Because we help campers find areas where they shine, they have more opportunities to lead and learn about their leadership capabilities.

  • Interpersonal skills: Whether living in a tent group with peers, sitting at a dinner table with campers and counselors of all ages, or learning to canoe with someone from another country, campers are constantly improving their interpersonal skills.

  • Managing priorities: If a camper starts making a basket in art, but also wants to go on a four-day hiking trip, she will need to determine her priorities and make decisions about how she will spend her time. Counselors help guide campers in developing these life-long skills.

  • Flexibility and adaptability: “Flex” is an unofficial ALC motto; we even have a camp song called “The Alford Lake Flexing”.  Sometimes it rains. Sometimes life doesn’t go according to plans. Campers watch counselors flex and adapt and they learn how important it is to be flexible and make the best of any situation.

  • Communication skills: Whether writing letters, or talking face-to-face with peers and adults, campers develop their communication skills in a tech-free setting.

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