I should start by prefacing that every single password of mine has some version of Chen-A-Wanda in it. That’s because when I got there in 2001, it changed my life.
I walked onto the bus in 2001 knowing no one in my bunk, no one even in my division. It was before we had new camper get-togethers or first friends; I truly couldn’t have imagined what was in store for me that summer or what was to come from the choice my parents made (thanks, Mom and Dad) to send me to Camp Chen-A-Wanda.
It wasn’t the climbing tower or the wild rides on the banana boat (that we did multiple times in our clothes to be ridiculous) that would keep me coming back to camp, but the friendships I made. The friendships I made that first summer are ones that are still in my life today. As a Jersey girl, people in my hometown used to tell me I should just move to Long Island because of how much time I spent there. But my camp friends just meant more to me than I could explain to anyone. They “got me” on another level.
I remember the nights we stayed up all hours talking on the cubby room floor, the rest hours we piled on each other’s beds to watch Grey’s Anatomy on the smallest tv I’ve ever seen. It’s the number of times we laughed so hard you don’t want to know what happened. The times we tried to go on “raids” and got caught outside the bunk. The time we even raided the bunk next door!! The chicken patty competitions. The girls sing LOSSES we always encountered (still confused about a few of them lol). The time Lindsay and I ran off stage during Sign and Song (dancing isn’t our thing). First kisses we giggled about, first loves we saw each other through, and so many experiences that deepened our connection, keeping us all still so closely woven into one another’s lives today.
People don’t always get the “camp” bond, but it’s those moments that happen when you live with people that just can’t be rivaled. These girls literally grew up with me. They saw me through my weirdest awkward days to now, and for the most part…they somehow still like me.
When we get together we still usually break out in our old songs, and I’m confident I could sing you a majority of our Girls Sing and Color War songs verbatim. Even after months or years of not seeing each other, we recently sat together at a restaurant for hours and laughed harder the next morning about our antics in a way that you only can do with your camp friends.
But my camper days were only one chapter of my camp experience…
When I returned to camp in 2009, I really had no clue that attempting to make the Boys Side infamous midcourt shot would result in finding the guy I now LIVE with 9 years later. I mean…WHAT! I’m convinced we must have handed the baton to one another at some point in our prior summers, but to our knowledge, despite both starting in 2001, we really only “met” that summer in 2009.
Looking back on 2009, I really had no idea I would find the love of my life that summer let alone on the Biddy Court. Alex and I continued our relationship long distance with camp being our place to really “be” with each other. We became best friends who could talk all hours of the night and found a love that would grow beyond anything we ever imagined. We supported one another when one of us was captain, and rivaled each other in 2010 (I still believe Red Army lost because I left a t-shirt in the dining hall…we all know dynamite was a killer song!!!). We went on the craziest adventures, had the most insane days, and really built a foundation for our relationship that made our time apart unquestionably worth it.
2009 not only brought me my boyfriend but more camp friends where the conversations would be never ending on our porches or over boneless wings at Candlelight. We’d laugh harder with our campers who are now gorgeous girls in High School, some heading to college and have become friends I’m forever grateful for.
When my days at Chenny came to a close in 2012, it was really hard for me. I read the blog every night and texted everyone there for play by plays of camp. I think it’s because camp will always have the most special place in my heart. When I get the chance to visit, there’s a feeling I get in my stomach when I’m driving those winding roads. No, it’s not nausea, it’s the purest excitement for the place that let me grow into the person I am today. The place where so many significant events in my life happened that shaped me. It’s crazy to think that a place could have so much value. But when I look at Alex and our life together, or at my phone where half of the conversations I save are with camp friends, I know that first summer in 2001 was the beginning of this incredible journey that has truly led me to where I am now.
I couldn’t be more thankful for my time at camp, and am really so jealous of anyone stepping on that bus for the first time this summer!!!! Ya never know…maybe that bus will lead you to your best friends or the love of your life.
I joined the Chenny family as a General counselor and loved every second of it. The friendships I made with everyone around me were so genuine and incredible, and little did I know, it would only continue to get better!
For me, the best part about working at camp is seeing everyone have a great time while making new memories. Having a great time is what camp is all about! I’ve had the opportunity to experience some AWESOME activities, day trips, and days/nights off while working at Chenny. This past summer, I was able to take a trip to the West Coast and see a ton of remarkable places with the GC division. The memories I have made in the last few summers will never leave my head and I’m always looking forward to making new ones every summer. Chen-A-Wanda has had such a huge impact on my life. I feel that I have grown into a better person every time I step foot in camp. Thank you, Chenny, for giving me new friendships, experiences, and of course, Ruben! Hurry up summer 2018!!
My transition from camper to counselor was scary. How could I go from living in a bunk with my camp friends to being a counselor in charge of my own campers? However, my Junior Counselor summer was one of my favorite summers at camp to this day. I lived in a bunk with my Freshmen girls (who are now about to be CIT’s and Junior Counselors) and had amazing co-counselors. I loved bonding with my campers and I made new camp friends while keeping the old as well. I went on to be a counselor for three summers becoming Olympic Captain, Color War Lieutenant and being awarded counselor of the year. I thought my counselor years couldn’t get better, and then I became a Group Leader for the Inter girls in 2012. I loved being a group leader for my Inter girls and building relationships with my counselors as well. However, nothing can compare to the day when Gary Shields called me to base camp to ask me if I would come back the following summer to be an Assistant Head Counselor. I was nervous, scared, and excited all at the same time. Of course, I said yes and started Summer 2013 in Mohican Camp (middle ages) under Amy Simmons, one of my best camp friends to this day. That summer was truly amazing. Since then I have been in both Navajo and Mohican camp as the Girls Head Counselor with each summer getting better and better than the last. Now, I am entering my sixteenth summer at this amazing place as the Mohican girls side Head Counselor for the sixth year and I am so excited what this summer has in store for me. In the offseason, I took a career path that would allow me to come back to camp summer after summer. In the winter I work as a Special Education Teacher in Manhattan and just completed my master’s degree in General Education and Special Education 1-6. My job is both rewarding and challenging, but working with kids, I knew was always my path in life.
Throughout my Chenny journey, I have met many people that have helped shape me into the strong, kind-hearted, loving and independent person I am today. I have learned many life lessons, fallen in love, and created friendships and memories to last a lifetime. I have watched my campers grow from little girls into young adults and helped them along the way as they became counselors to their very own campers. Camp has been an amazing experience for me and I am so excited to see where the next chapter takes me as the rest of my journey is still to come! Bring on Chenny 18!!
My days at camp started in 2004 as a Junior girl. My parents say that I was born ready for camp and happily waved them off the bus on that first day wearing my custom Chenny shirt, red and gold hot loops, and my nails painted red and gold with Chen-A-Wanda across them. From that day, I knew that camp would be my home away from home. From playing on the sports fields to dancing in the dining hall, from writing songs for Girl’s Sing to Color War, and inevitably crying my eyes out on the last day, there wasn’t anything I wouldn’t do to get to do it all again the next summer.
I was a CIT in 2011 and I thought nothing could beat that summer. I had done it all, even spray-painted Arts and Crafts, but I still couldn’t imagine my life without this place. I remember sitting on the Lake Court crying my eyes out, thinking how I’d come back and not get to be a camper and do it all over again. However, I thankfully realized that I did get to do it all over again, but instead through the eyes of eager young campers, just like I was eight summers before. I quickly saw them make those best friends connections with camper and counselors that we wouldn’t trade for the world, got to write songs for them to have them put on an amazing Girl’s Sing, and got to watch them develop a love for camp that is irreplaceable.
I truly have camp to thank for shaping me into the person I am today. It was the place I grew up and learned the most, and those lessons have been with me every step of the way since. It was a place that’s given me life-long friends and little sisters that I couldn’t imagine my life without. To any camper or staff, new or returning, don’t take Chen-A-Wanda for granted, cherish each moment that you have inside that bubble because sadly it isn’t always possible for you to return. I left my mark and my camp story was over, but I will never not cherish Chen-A-Wanda and all that it gave me.
This will be my 18th summer at Chen-A-Wanda. As the Office Manager, I work with everyone from Campers, Parents, Counselors, Support Staff to Head Staff. I do a lot of behind the scenes, from creating parent information, camper forms, scheduling camper phone calls, to making sure your camper has his/her allotted spending money for their trips. During Orientation Week, when I speak to the staff I always tell them, I am the person to ask when they aren’t sure who to ask since either I will know the answer or else I will know where to direct them.