Hi everyone!! My name is Rachael Reilly and I’m from Indiana, Pennsylvania. I’m currently a High School Business Teacher at Clarion-Limestone – on the other side of Pennsylvania! This will be my fifth summer at Chenny and I’ll be returning as one of the Girls Side Assistant Head Counselors!
I started my Chenny adventure back in 2014! One of my best friends, Shelby Runyan, and I started our journey together. As we drove up to camp for orientation, we both second-guessed our decision. We were about a minute away from camp and SERIOUSLY considered turning around and driving home. What were we thinking working at a summer camp all summer? What if they don’t like us? What if we hate it? BOY WERE WE WRONG. Summer 2014 ended up being one of the best summers of my life and I have never regretted my decision.
During my first summer at camp, I was a Basketball Specialist and a counselor for the GC girls. Little did I know, these girls would become some of my best friends – I still stay in contact with most of them to this day! I was given the opportunity to be a Captain for Olympics (Go Madagascar) and then a Lieutenant for Color War (Gold Zombies)! Both of these events were easily the most exhausting and most rewarding times for me at camp! The next summer, I became a Group Leader for the youngest girls on camp, the Freshmen. Talk about opposite ends of the spectrum! I went from some of the oldest girls on camp to the youngest girls on camp – I was nervous, to say the least. As much as I didn’t want to admit it at times, I ended up loving the younger age group. During my third summer, I was the Group Leader for the same girls, when they moved up a division to Juniors. Which leaves me at my current position at camp, Girls Side Assistant Head Counselor!
During my previous four years at camp, there were countless times where I literally couldn’t believe that I was getting paid to do what I was doing. Trapeze? Climbing Tower? Tubing? Dancing on tables at meals? Got paid for it all of it. There were times where it literally didn’t seem real. Wearing a red and gold tutu around camp…and it being socially acceptable? Sure, why not?
Camp was really a life-changing experience for me. I truly believe that I wouldn’t be half the person I am today without the experiences and friendships that I’ve gained through camp. The friendships that I have made at camp are irreplaceable. Those people are always there for me, literally whenever I need them. Whether it’s a Facetime call from my campers or group texts with my co-counselors, I always have someone there. I have hundreds of friends from all over the world and that’s something that I’m extremely thankful for. I talk about the people I’ve met at camp in my classroom all the time – my students are always so baffled that I know people from all over.
So all in all, I was able to find myself during my few years at Chen-A-Wanda. I grew into the person that I needed and wanted to be. I couldn’t be more thankful for Jon, Elissa, Brian, and Laura, (and the countless people that I’ve met over the years) for giving me the opportunity of working at Camp Chen-A-Wanda. I am forever grateful and thankful for Camp Chen-A-Wanda.
When I first came to camp as a Junior boy, I was very shy and never really ventured out of my comfort zone. I was super nervous on that first day, but luckily, I had a friend from my town who was coming back for his second summer. He introduced me to everyone in my division during a game of Gaga, which turned out to be my favorite sport at camp. More importantly, those people turned out to be some of my best friends.
Growing up with everyone, we became as close as brothers. We would argue and fight, but at the end of the day, we all had each other’s backs. We had some awesome counselors along the way who became role models to all of us. As I got older, porch talks with them helped me learn a lot about life, and about what I wanted to do. I also started trying new things, whether it was new food in the dining hall or a new activity around camp.
As a culmination of many years together, our division got to be the first “Chen-A-Wanderers,” and take a 10 day trip to California. I had never been to the West Coast before, and I pretty much fell in love with it as soon as we hopped off the plane at LAX. I got to see San Diego, LA, Hollywood, the Grand Canyon, Vegas, and so many other places, all with my best friends in the world. It really was a life-changing trip, and when college applications rolled around a few years later, I knew exactly where I wanted to go. Half of the schools I applied to were in California, and I wound up at the beautiful UCLA. If it wasn’t for camp, I might be stuck at a school where it actually rains!
As a Junior Counselor the following summer, I was very intrigued to see the other side of things at camp. I was lucky enough to live in the same bunk as my older brother Scott, and I was able to create bonds with the campers almost immediately. To this day, even though I moved out of their division, I still think of them as my little brothers, and I’m beyond excited to see how they do as CITs this year.
In 2014, I started my Chenny journey when I came across the camps flyer during study hall at my school. I was a camper at a wilderness camp when I was younger, but I knew this would be totally different. After much thought, I decided to give it a go! I remember arriving at camp and being completely doubtful. The first two weeks were tough for me. I don’t consider myself a social or outgoing person that can just walk up and talk to new people, but camp helped me with that!
In 2016, I returned as Group Leader for my GC boys. This was such a great summer for me. I got to share the experience of going on the West Coast Trip with them. After this, I didn’t see them as my campers, but as my brothers. My fourth year, I came back as one of the Athletic Directors; I had a fun time in my new position at camp. I learned a ton of new things and had completely different responsibilities from my last few roles at camp. One cool thing about joining the Chenny family is that you’ll make friendships that will last for a really long time. It’s just incredible to me how we all come together from all over the world to this place in Pennsylvania and become a huge family. The best part it only takes 8 weeks to make these relationships. I’m also thankful that I was able to meet such wonderful girl like Nikki! I can’t wait for Summer ’18!
My very first experience at camp was with a few men that helped acclimate myself to camp. They welcomed me with open arms, which isn’t anything out of the ordinary at camp, it’s a way of life. Once you make that right down camp road, drive under the arch, you become part of a unique family. My first summer started with a small group and quickly expanded to nearly 800 campers and staff members. The next few weeks were quiet for me. I am normally a shy and reserved person. I don’t normally go out of my comfort zone at all. Until I met someone by the name of Melvin, I was sitting in the lodge eating and he sat down across from me and said, “Just the man I am looking for.” He had asked if I’d like to participate in the staff talent show. After talking, I had agreed that if I wanted to color my picture in, I would have to step out of my comfort zone a little. That was just the beginning of my first summer at camp. After that, I was asked to be a Captain of Olympics and shortly following, Captain of Color War. The summer ended with an honor that I am still proud of, being named Counselor of the Year. If I can give anyone words of advice, it’s don’t be afraid to try new things and face your fears while at camp. If I didn’t do those things and step out of my comfort zone, I don’t think I would have been able to understand the meaning of what my first-year entailed. We hold the ability to make camp amazing. We get out, what we put in. Which brings me to my next question…
It’s hard to explain, camp allows me to step out of my comfort zone. I may have been part of probably one of the worst lip sync experience ever in camp history and when I say, “I may have,” I was. I stood up on stage and didn’t know what I was doing. I kept saying, “Watermelon, cantaloupe,” but not even those two words could save me. I knew that this would be talked about, but I also knew that it wouldn’t bother me. You do things at camp for the kids. Maybe I didn’t nail the performance (or come anywhere close) but maybe I was able to give a camper confidence to get up on stage and perform. To me camp is not about myself, it’s about the campers and having a good laugh and I gave camp enough reason to laugh for the next few days with that performance. This is why I come back year after year, to share and make memories with the camp Chen-A-Wanda family and build relationships with everyone that steps foot on that spot on the map in Thompson, PA.
A lot of people will say that camp is their second home, but due to some odd circumstances in my life, Chen-a-Wanda became my home. Not second, not home-away-from-home, but just home. I applied to camp during my second year at East Stroudsburg University where I’m getting a History Education degree and minor in Athletic Coaching. I needed something to do during the summer because my dad had moved to Missouri before I entered High School and then my mom had just accepted a four-year job in Iowa. That left me at my house in Pennsylvania during the summers alone paying for any bills that were from me living in the house. Now as great as it sounds having a home that used to hold eight people all to myself, after the first summer it got pretty boring. All I would do was run and work a job at Red Lobster to try to pay for the real world bills for my summer home. I came across Camp Chen-a-Wanda because our school sent out an email to all students in the athletic program with job opportunities. It seemed like the perfect plan, I was away from the house so I wouldn’t have to pay electric bills because I wouldn’t be using any electricity. I wouldn’t have to worry about feeding myself, doing laundry, and any other real-world responsibilities AND it would look great on a resume for wanting to be in education. The only problem was, I tend to be incredibly quiet and not as outgoing, so I was only going if I went with someone. I was able to convince one of my teammates, Zygmunt (yeah his name was Zygmunt), to go with me that way I could train for cross country with someone and be a little more comfortable at camp.
Turns out as soon as I stepped foot at Chen-a-Wanda, I already made connections and friends that I still have today. I met Tom who goes to the same university that my dad works at in Missouri, Eddie who knew my track teams Graduate Assistant, and Jes who all I needed to know was that he was Australian and we’d be friends. Small world huh. Despite those quick connections, I still flew relatively under the radar my first year. As a track athlete, there wasn’t really a specialist position for someone who could only run, so I was a General Counselor. I became better friends with my Collegiates than I have with people I go to school with. People will always tell you how difficult kids can be, but you don’t get told how absolutely hilarious they can be, and really make each day interesting. After a summer of running at 5:30 am and playing games all day, came the day when the campers leave. They all get on buses and head back to their homes. That day is always one of the more memorable ones because I CRIED MY EYES OUT. Something I never thought I’d do and there I was about to turn Thompson, PA into Waterworld just after spending a few weeks with these kids. I ran back to my bunk, grabbed my sunglasses and knew – I’m going to come back.
My second year at Camp was a little different. Zyggy wasn’t coming back since he had to do internships for athletic training, so I lost my morning running buddy. I also had to be more involved in the rest of camp itself and I was an Assistant Group Leader to Brett Croen. Still best friends with my campers, I ended up having the opportunity to be Captain of both Olympics and Color War (wanted to remind Jes Farley-Steere if he’s reading this about who won both). Along with that, I gained some wicked skills at playing tennis, a sport I’ve never even thought about. At the end of the summer, I was one of the Counselors of the Year, solidifying a successful summer. Then the buses came, and so did the tears and sunglasses. So I came back.
Each summer has been a totally different experience, the third summer I was able to be a Co-Group Leader with Jes, so I got to share my responsibilities with one of my best friends. My fondest memory of that summer wasn’t the trip to Boston (although that’s up there), but the super intense ultimate frisbee games with our boys. Camp is pretty good about making simple things truly memorable. I got even better at tennis (not to toot my horn, but I beat the tennis girl), became even better friends with my campers, and yes, of course, cried when the buses left. So I’m coming back.
