by B.
My experience at the camp was not just about learning, it was more than that – it was creating decisive moments that I would be able to look to and progress from. Throughout the weeks at the camp, I felt we’ve worked in such a supportive environment and that always helped us put our best foot forward in every condition. We were constantly challenged to step outside our comfort zones each day, which I really appreciated because it helped build many skills that would definitely help me in the future, like gaining more confidence because this is something I struggle with a lot. For the next few months, I will be on stage a lot presenting and would have no time to be nervous at all whatsoever and so overall, I am very thankful and appreciative of the facilitators because this was something I won’t be able to change on my own without their help.
In our circle, there was a very strong sense of belonging, the amount of acceptance and respect was above and beyond. I felt that I was friends with everyone, I had a great time getting to know everyone. We all had our own stories to share and understood one another. I felt that each day brought something new, the discussions were very deep and emotionally moving. There were a lot of topics and it helped me grow in all kinds of ways, mostly positive of course. Because everything has a meaning, it always leads me to look at different points of views; it made me question myself and the situations happening in our society or community. I have come to realize that our society, our communities, put so much pressure on us that we start to feel we are not good enough. I would not have noticed that without listening and talking about these issues and directing them through all sorts of ways.
At the camp, I always felt safe about expressing myself and my opinions. I enjoyed exploring new facts plus discovering more – and it felt like this was happening by the hour each time. I completely almost always looked forward to the our daily activities as they were not basic, they were entertaining and engaging!
Some of the questions that were asked would give you the “ohhh yeaaa i never thought of that “ kinda face. The questions seemed easy to answer but when you actually attempted to answer it, you would struggle and then start to actually think about it. I feel we need people to be confronted with these types of questions, this is a change I would like to see. I think that it will make a positive impact if we collectively work towards this. I am also very glad that our discussions, and the journey throughout this camp, will be turned into a podcast, a project we have been working with the CJSW team.
I really enjoyed the field trips too, especially the one at the Jubilee. I personally thought that it was exciting to see the backstage life – like how lights operate for special effects during big shows. We also went on an 80-feet catwalk and discovered that it was a bit scary. I don’t think anything could get any better because we had pizza too and a vocals teacher who helped us develop proper speaking skills for an even better performance. I gave that day 1000/10! I also really admired the piano with Rona and Femi at lunch. I would actually come an hour before we start our day, sometimes to practice the piano because Rona and her talented self inspired me! We could never forget the dance classes with Jasen and Krizia, both very talented people who made dancing comfortable again. Thank you very much !
The only thing I wish for is for the camp to be a bit longer so that I could experience an even better time with incredible people 🙂