The Journey Begins...

Bonding and Leadership at Camp Belknap

Not until we are lost do we begin to understand ourselves.
- Henry David Thoreau

“Make sure your lights are out by 10 PM.” Our counselor Brian reminded us before leaving the cabin. It was around 9 PM and already dark outside at Camp Belknap located right on Lake Winepusake in New Hampshire. This was the first time I got to lay in the small bunk in the old dusty cabin rewind and just reflect on the day. I learned what type of leader I am and I discovered the importance of being present in the moment.

In life, we are always thinking about what comes next and the next big thing.  Since coming back to school I have already started thinking about the next school year and of course, going back to camp this upcoming summer. However, at Camp Belknap without having my phone on me constantly I haven’t had the whole world contacting me I have been able to really be able to be present at the moment. Because I was able to be present, I was able to make little moments become big moments. One example of this was the first night in the cabin. The 10 PM lights out seemed ridiculous to everyone and with our concealer out of the cabin, we all laid in our sleeping bags and just talked about whatever random thought came into our head. This was amazing because it really allowed me to get to know my other classmates and it truly was an amazing bonding experience. We all had such an overall good time to the point that a camp counselor Brian had to come into our cabin and tell us we were being a way to wild. Overall, I realized in the future I should take a step away from life to be more present at the moment.

It’s hard to know what leadership is and what kind of leader you are. This is why On the final day at Camp Belknap, the leadership workshop taught me a lot about myself as a person and how that ties into what kind of leader I am. We were all standing in the hot sun regretting wearing sweatpants based on the early morning cold. We gathered in groups based upon stereotypes of personalities. In this, I learned that I am a motivator leader. This means that I like to have some control and power. In addition to that, I like to motivate the group. As well as that, I learned being as being a motivator leader I can become emotionally attached to an idea that I strongly support. It definitely tied into a lot of things that I do, including my radio show and dj’ing as I am definitely passionate and emotionally attached to both of them. At the same time I tie into the motivation part by having my radio show listeners get involved in contests and and I definitely hype up my crowd to the point of mosh pits, everyone jumping and screaming, and hair-flipping with huge music hits. In conclusion, without this experience, I never would have been able to learn about the different types of leadership and how it ties into my life.

My experience at Camp Belknap has shown me that even though I am a motivation leader, its good to take time to step back and reflect and perhaps I should do it more often.