Hello to all and a special shout out to the lovely ladies of Seneca!
I hope you are all as excited for camp as I am! I do not think that I could be more thrilled to return this summer as your Seneca Assistant Unit Head! I am writing you from my home, my bags packed, as I eagerly await my departure for Penn Yan. It is insane how quickly the school year flew by. This year was a HUGE year for me: my first year of college. If I had to describe my year in one word I would say it was incredible. Getting adjusted to college life was tough, but easier than I had anticipated. This was not based off of my high school experiences but rather the personal skills I have learned from being a camper and a counselor at CSL. Seneca and CSL as a whole have taught me more about myself than I could have ever imagined and I am truly grateful for that.
My story as a camper at CSL is a bit more unconventional than most. I started out as a Camp Lakeland camper in 2007 and I loved it there more than anything. I went back for another fantastic summer in 2008 and was beyond excited to go back for more. Unfortunately, Camp Lakeland closed that summer and for the summer of 2009 my fellow Lakelander’s and I were shipped off to our sister JCC camp: Camp Seneca Lake. I was more nervous than I had probably been in my life up to that point but I later learned that there was literally nothing to be nervous about. CSL and Seneca became my new home. This is going to be my 8th year away at camp, my 3rd year as a staff member, and my 4th year as a member of the wonderful village of Seneca.
Seneca holds a very special place in my heart, mainly because oldest Seneca was my first impression of CSL. I saw the way the youngest Senecans admired the middle and oldest girls and I felt privileged to be a part of such an empowering village. Seneca shows their girls how to respect themselves and those around them. Seneca teaches them how to be effective future female leaders and how to simply be the best human they can be. Honestly, I owe a lot of who I am today to the village of Seneca.
This summer is going to be another amazing one and we have some AWESOME things in store for you girls, so get pumped!! I cannot wait to see all of your shining faces bright and early on June 29th!
Lots of Seneca Love,
Stefi Kerner, Seneca AUH
