I honestly believe that over the course of your lifetime you find one place that absolutely consumes your heart. This place is meant to be your safe haven, your calm in the storm, your Heaven on Earth. Now this place can be your home, your room, your favorite spot in the woods or like my case, my summer job. These places leave a stamp on your heart that will never and can never be replaced by the things of this world. At these places you are taken aback from the world, you are in a bubble, and whatever happens is all up to you. Take the famed book Bridge to Terabithia, in this book these two children create a magical paradise that secludes them from the world and all of its harms; for me this is Camp Burnt Gin.
Three years ago I was an aspiring Special Education teacher with big dreams for my future classroom. Knowing that I didn't want to spend another summer at home with nothing to do I go searching for a job in my future field to help me get some real world experience. As I go to Google, I type in "Special needs camps in South Carolina" and Camp Burnt Gin pops up. It is mid-January but I go ahead and apply because I knew that it would be a good experience. With CBG being about an hour from my home in West Columbia, I knew that it would be a convenient drive for the days that I have off so I can come home and spend time with my family. From October to the end of February I had been battling a bad cold, and kept getting pushed from doctor to doctor. I finally found out that I had mono, and was told to stay home on doctors orders for the next week; my interview with the camp director was that Wednesday. By Wednesday I was finally able to muster up enough lung capacity to talk to the camp director for over an hour for my interview which was one of the most nerve-racking moments of my life. Weeks later I was offered a position as a camp counselor at Camp Burnt Gin for the summer of 2013, and boy was I in for a surprise.
I knew very little of what I was actually going into when I took the position at camp. I have a brother with Autism and he is very independent and then I have worked with Special Needs kids since middle school, but never on an extended basis. I decided to visit camp during the opening clean up day just to see if it was something I could handle. That day I learned how to clean a cabin, that didn't have air conditioning, I met new friends, and I saw where I would call home for the next eight weeks. Little did I know that these next eight weeks would change my whole perspective as a future educator and as a person. These eight weeks changed my life, and kept me coming back.
Mrs. Marie, our camp director, has worked at Camp Burnt Gin for over thirty years. She recently told the staff a story about a counselor who went on to work at the Governors School for Arts and Humanities. During a conversation with this former counselor, who had only worked one summer at camp, he shares one very important thing that has stuck with me for the past two weeks, "Eight weeks. It took eight weeks, and I think about it every day of my life." This is now my third summer at camp and the words that were said have never made more sense to me.
Every year I go back to school with new stories, new memories, and a new perspective on life. Camp Burnt Gin has given me so much more than I could have ever asked for out of a summer job. I have so many new friends, some amazing best friends, and the best memories. I am now apart of a new family, the Burnt Gin family. This family never quits, never gives up, and never loses. Camp Burnt Gin is not just a summer camp to these kids, it is something they look forward to all year. This is the best week of the year for most of these kids, and it's a place that they can go to feel normal for a week. Here at camp, we allow these kids to be their own kind of normal. We take them boating, they learn nature, sports, arts and crafts, fine arts, they eat with a cabin for the week, they sleep in a cabin together, they cry together they laugh together, they become a family.
Burnt Gin is more than just a summer camp, and it is so frustrating that the powers that be want to close down this safe haven. When you look at it, Camp Burnt Gin is the best bang for the buck in South Carolina. Most special needs camps cost upwards of +$500 a week just so they can get the "adequate" care that these children need. Camp Burnt Gin is of no cost to these families, and these kids get more than the best that they need the week they are with our staff. Camp Burnt Gin is my safe haven, as well as many other current and former staff. I can't imagine spending my summers anywhere else. Throughout my years here at CBG, I have watched myself change for the better. Thank you Camp Burnt Gin for being this place for not only me but hundreds of others over the years. Happy 70th birthday!
Forever grateful,
Lauren
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