I was always an August camper. I never experienced July until the memorable summer that was Tuscarora 2010. August 2014 is sure to be a fantastic session with some major programs coming our way - but with my fellow Onondaga staff today we decided to focus on the space between the rungs on the ladder that is the August session. The rungs symbolize the major events that define the session: Color War, campstock, village days, even meals in the dining hall. And the space between the rungs? The walk from the ropes course to lunch, and the time on the slide at the pool when you've half way down, and the passing down of the flashlight from the top to the bottom bunk to the set of drawers when flashlight time has ended. The most memorable times at camp are usually evening programs and meals, but camp is made special by the way that we establish our community during the in-between times. CSL sucks you in and before you know it, you've hopped off a bus and are chanting with 50 other new best friends in Onondaga. CSL embraces you tight throughout the session. Before we can fully realize the completed revolutions of the Earth around the Sun, signaling the end of August, CSL will release us into the "real" world. We call it the real world because it's the norm. Full of people who ignore each other like strangers. In the real world, people don't share as much or dance like hooligans on benches. But camp IS the real world. It's just a special version of the real world. CSL isn't perfect, but it's rather electrifying to live on a plot of land where every face is familiar and genuinely cares how your day is going, or whether or not they should refill the French fries (the answer is always yes. Definitely fill the French fries). In July we have the whole summer ahead of us. We have the luxury of greeting each day with open arms. But in August we fear the inevitable end, so we consider greeting the day with a defensive punch, like the flailing arm of a toddler's tantrum. As staff, however, we have to provide our campers with the platforms to develop the skills to deal with a lovely entity such as CSL that by nature, must end. So we focus on the space between the rungs of the ladder. We make an extra effort to be inclusive of every Onondagan, and we encourage our campers to be as silly as possible, because it's just more fun that way. As a former August camper, my heart is always in this session, and I know this one will be the best yet.
Jane Tuszynski
O-3 Bunk Counselor and Onondaga Assistant Unit Head
P.S. Onondaga's league this August session is basketball, so peace out nukem, it's been real. #OBL (Onondaga Basketball League)
