Thursday, November 21, 2019

In the Words of 2019 LIT, Ethan Stump: Camp Community

Ethan Stump and camper, Luke Ferrero-Porschetto

Ever since I started coming to WLC, I've always loved archery. With a top notch range, many like to go there to try out something that they have never done before. But I don't just go to the range because I want to shoot some targets, sometimes I would go just to hang out with some of the friends that I had made because of camp.

Back in 2014, when I was eleven, I got to go to my first big archery competition: The Flight of the Champions. Some of the people that I am still closest with today, such as a fellow counselor Nick, and my brother Ryan. In fact, one of the main reasons I was able to get so close to my brother was because of Archery. Before I started going to camp, neither of us really liked each other. But through such a positive Archery community, we were able to become closer. Anyway, in terms of the competition, long story short; acquaintances became friends, and lots of inside jokes formed. And not to mention that we won, because WLC has a great Archery program. After the competition, we had formed a tight community, inside of a tight community, all because of camp.

Although the Archery community has it own little quirks at camp, other activities have these types of communities as well. The challenge course, for example, has a tightly knit group of guys, and so does riflery. And altogether, it creates a diverse sense of community that echoes throughout the entire camp.