A New Perspective by Francesca

A New Perspective by Francesca - April 2022 Scholarship Essay

I started attending Adam’s Camp when I was eight and my brother was five. The camp was designed as a therapy camp for children with special needs and was later extended to include a sibling camp. My only memory from this first year was feeling upset at the end of camp because I was not ready to leave. I had made a new friend that I did not want to say goodbye to and it was nice for once to not have to explain my brother’s condition all the time.
After this first year, it became obvious to my parents that we should return to camp. In the last week of July for the past nine years, it has been a tradition to stay in a rustic cabin and take a break at camp. My brother had the chance to progress in his speech and motor skills through camp activities like rock-climbing and hiking while my sister and I could participate in the same activities as a form of bonding between us and the other siblings who were in the same situation.
When I was fourteen, I knew that my next step in my Adam’s Camp experience was becoming a camp counselor for the sibling camp that I had loved for so many years. Rather than being the one who was taught that my feelings about my sibling mattered, I was the one that could help these children to process their emotions. This was such a fulfilling experience for me in the two years I could do it because I knew that I was making a difference for these kids based on my previous experience. Knowing that I could be a part of improving a child’s understanding of their situation was invigorating for me as it felt like my experiences having a sibling with special needs were not something that was insignificant in my life. Though I am only one person in the Adam’s Camp community, my time as a counselor helped me gain a new perspective on how I can make a difference, even on a small scale.