Hey everybody, Reply
Some of the stuff I've been hearing about Session Three/East, 2002 on the parents list most recently is kind of bothering me (that it's getting some kind of weird, bad,
I-dunno; do-you?-what-DID-happen-there?
reputation), so I just wanted to dedicate this page to the message that I WAS at Session Three (as a first-time camper—maybe this in a way gives me an even stronger voice because I didn't have anything potentially better
to compare it to?); it WAS a loving, close-knit, supportive, kind, relaxing, and everything I've heard about Camp experience for me, and pretty much any of others I've talked to; it was NOT phychologically, mentally, sexually or otherwise damaging to me; almost everyone there WAS very nice and sweetly endearingly innocent and childlike and not exactly flinging sexual slurs at eachother or anything, and all those other good things; I was NOT pushed into anything that I didn't want to do or that was disagreeable or harmful to me; and, well, lastly, Grace was there, camp was Camp I believe, dispite a new location and some minor inevitable changes like it being the first East and all that (and full of brand-new people), we had a magnificent, kind staff, we had workshops, we had cabins, we had rain, we had laughing, we had bad food, we had fun, and, let's all say, yay! Long live Camp! Reply
Also, now that I'm done momentarily with all that, I also want to say: I still miss y'all who were at Session Three; I really felt like we had a cool bond there, and have the inkling maybe some of you others are at home thinking the same, and I'd love to stay in touch, so write me, I'll write you, etc.; AND: I got my camp photo in the mail 2 days ago!!! As in, photo: Of campers. Yyyyaaaaayyyyyy! I see you all again suddenly there as a whole beautiful group and your lovely faces and that beautiful place and I've been induced into a sort of happy-chicken, Camp-was-nifty-Camp-was-Spiffy dance as well! So everyone who was there, or who wasn't; session three, regular long-time Oregonians, and unschoolers in general, let's all go give mental hugs to everyone in our photos and, keep up the good cheer, keep unschooling, and I love you all. Yay!! Reply
-Rachel H. 12/23/02 Reply
Thank you so much for writing this, Rachel! I've been hearing all sorts of conflicting things lately... It's good to know that the Camp Spirit lives. *grins and hugs* —Marina Reply
Hey, cool, I'm glad my saying that meant something to you. I wasn't really sure what all the other campers were thinking about this either...'cause I know it wasn't some weird, screwed up experience, so I didn't know if y'all were assuming that too, or taking up the rumors. I never know if it's good to say my opinions or not. ('Cause sometimes people are like,
aw, yeah, we knew that.) :) -Rachel Reply
Ah, bad food. One of the things the west coast camp hasn't had for a few years. Complaining about the food was quite a camp pastime in '98 and '99. Then the food got good, and we stopped complaining. ~/Qete/~ Reply
Man and was it EVER bad in '99! Boy howdy. —Zen Reply
Rachel you rock... I'm also really disappointed by the bad rap session three has gotten with many people. I hope no one gets pissed at me for saying this, but I felt the community feeling at session three was much more cohesive and inclusive and apparent than it has at west coast (i'm speaking from my own experience). I felt like it was very very much a huge group effort, and everyone was all in it together many times... like there would be activities where pretty much the whole camp would show up for it. I'm not at all saying that this is always a good thing, to have everyone participating in something together, but I have to say it really did lend a very community atmosphere to the week. Reply
Another thing I noticed was that post-session three, I got several emails from session three campers, in which they wrote how much camp meant to them and inspired them and helped open their minds, and in the sent to
box, you'd often see 20+ email addresses. Reply
Anywho, I really can't say session three was any better or worse than the other sessions of camp I've attended. Yes, it was very very different in many ways, but it was still the same Not Back to School Camp that I've been to before, just 3,000 miles in the opposite direction. -eira Reply
I think the west coast camp has gotten too stuck in traditions, which holds it back somewhat. Also I've noticed that most returning campers tend to object to change. I think one of the things session 3 likely did was give camp a fresh slate to start on. And there wasn't
old peopleandnew people, because in a way, everyone's new, and there's no idea yet of how camp issupposedto be. Camp isn'tsupposedto be anything except itself. Which is everchanging. ~/Qete/~ Reply
wedgies! does anyone remember wedgies? those things were gross and confusing and oddly named all at the same time. I have to agree with everyone, I didn't notice anything bad that happened at camp. And I had a cold almost the entire week. but I've never felt such a sense of community and general togetherness with people, even the ones I didn't know so well, as I did at camp. Even the people I didn't know so well I still knew *fairly* well...if that makes any sense. It's 6:30 and I'm rambling. Anyway...wedgies. Dwell. ~cookie monster~ Reply
Link: see also MyTwoCentsOnSessionThree Reply
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