Last week’s MCE blog covered rookie experiences for first time, younger campers. This week, we’re heading to the opposite end of the spectrum to talk about alumni campers. While it’s almost impossible to think about later years when your campers are young and first starting out, their years will fly by as they grow as campers and as people; their camp relationships – often started at age 7 or 8 – will take them into the next stages of their lives. Here are a few ways we’ve seen this happen firsthand:
Going to College
Now is the time that current seniors in high school are committing to their chosen colleges. The AMAZING thing is that no Maine camper will go alone. Through the incredible camp network (both a camper’s individual camp AND the larger Maine Camp network), these budding college freshmen will head into college knowing someone – and likely more than one person. Former campers connect with each other through social media, through word of mouth, and through camp friends to connect with new friends – before they even step foot on the campus, giving them a leg up when it comes to choosing roommates, asking questions about the colleges, getting tours and/or places to stay, and beyond. Families will often connect with their camp directors to let them know where their child will be attending, and are thankful that their child made lifelong connections as a kid at camp that will take them into the next phase. Our Maine Camp Experience Director and Campcierge® Laurie is seeing this firsthand with her older daughter right now.
Going Abroad
Many college kids take the incredible opportunity to spend a semester abroad in college. In a foreign country, teens who attended Maine Camps will likely already feel comfortable for a couple reasons: 1) they’re used to going away and meeting new people from all over, and 2) in addition to possibly knowing a person or two from their US university, chances are … they’ll reconnect with Maine campers. One set of our Maine Camp Owner/Directors and our Maine Camp Experience Manager Andrea are both seeing their daughters thrive. Their girls feel connected to their fellow childhood camp best friends AND they are connecting in a new place and way with campers who may not have been in their cabin; they knew them, but are now getting to know them even better. And, not only are they reuniting with camp friends in their country of study, but also they are seeing camp friends as they travel around, visiting other countries during their semester.
In Business
Maine Camp connections transcend the child/camp summers into adulthood. Campmates work at companies together and even form their own businesses together. They also support each other’s businesses, so everyone succeeds. For example, a Maine Camp alumna, Stephanie, who also has sons who attended a Maine Camp Experience Camp created a business called Reimagine Kids, an online consignment shop featuring kids and teen clothing. Our Campcierge® Laurie had clothing and shoes that her kids had outgrown, so she connected with Stephanie who met up for a pick up.
College, semester abroad, in business, in marriages, and more … these are just a sampling of the many, many ways that Maine Camp connections last a lifetime – taking campers from the youngest ages through adulthood.
Keep in touch and let us know how your Maine Camp connections have served you!
Maine Camp Experience Resources & Tools
You can share your own Maine camps memories & expressions of gratitude on our Memories of Camp section of our website.
Looking for the perfect Maine camp for your child? Try out our helpful tool where you can select a camp by choosing: type of camp (girls, boys or coed) and session length (1-8 weeks). It helps to narrow down a few camps to a manageable list that includes rates. Then you can research these camps in more depth.
Next, be sure to contact our Maine Camp Guide, Laurie to discuss these camps as well as for free, year-round advice and assistance on choosing a great Maine summer camp for your child.
Talk to Laurie, our Maine Campcierge®, about choosing the right camp for your child and what to do in Maine.
Call 877-92-MAINE
