Camp Is The Best Preparation For College
Strength. Resilience. Independence.
The Challenge of College
College presents many challenges for students: the academics are more demanding than high school, the social scene is new and overwhelming, and living away from home leaves many without their security blankets and creature comforts.
Time and time again, we have seen how well camp prepares kids for college.
Many students breeze through high school with straight A’s, only to run into more rigorous classes in their first semester at college.
How many freshmen have been blindsided by that first physics or art history test? That “%{color:red}68%” scribbled in red ink at the top of the page will not soon be forgotten!
When encountered for the first time, failure can be hard to process. When you factor in other stressors – homesickness, an uncomfortable roommate situation, a new routine – a small failure can have larger, negative ripple effects.
While camp may not teach how to write a strong concluding paragraph or find the derivative of a function, it gives young people skills that will help them succeed in all walks of life…especially college.
Camp is a Toolbox
If life is like a box of chocolates, then camp is like a toolbox, brimming with useful tools that will help students conquer the myriad of challenges they may face in college.
What’s in the Toolbox?
- Strength
- Resilience
- Independence
- Confidence
- Social aptitude
- Overcoming failure
- Conflict resolution
- Self-sufficiency
- Patience
How exactly does camp deliver all of these tools? After all, it’s quite a list!
From Cabins to Dorms
What better prep for college dorm life than living with, playing with, and working alongside 10 roommates? At Camp Champions, campers live in cabins with their peers, many of whom they have never met before. Learning to navigate this social dynamic can prove tricky; it requires excellent communication and strong collaboration. Living in a cabin teaches children patience, empathy, conflict resolution, and the all-important understanding that not everything goes their way.
Happy, Healthy, and Away from Home
Simply living away from home for a few weeks instills a sense of independence, confidence and self-sufficiency that will translate to college and beyond. Away from home, children become responsible for tasks and self-care, such as brushing their teeth, keeping track of their belongings, and being punctual. Even if campers are homesick, they almost always overcome it, a true triumph, confidence-builder, and milestone. In college, the most successful students are able to thrive away from their parents.
Campers have been doing so for years.
Comfortable Being Uncomfortable
Much of camp is fun, but it’s not all easy. Inevitably, campers will do an activity that they have never done before. We see this is a wonderful teaching moment. At Camp Champions, we actively encourage children to step outside of their comfort zone, try new things, and take reasonable risks. In practice, this might look like climbing the Rock Wall, tackling a challenge course, or wake-boarding for the first time. Learning to persist, through frustration and even temporary failure, builds up a sense of confidence and “I can do it” attitude necessary for college, where the most successful students push through obstacles with conviction and belief.