By: Hannah Bloomberg, alumna
As an active member of NFTY-NEL in high school, I’d visited Camp George off-season and had heard dozens of stories from close friends about their summer experiences and love for this place way way way up north. I always listened, acknowledged their fun, and laughed at their antics, but I never gave camp too much thought because of my family’s loyalty to a secular summer camp in Michigan. My mother went there for ten summers as a child, and my sister and I had been attending since the first summer we were allowed. While I’d never have admitted it, I was intrigued by the passion with which my friends spoke about Camp George, because I’d never felt the same connection to my camp.
Fast forward several years, and I’m in college at the University of Rochester. After several existential crises, approximately four changes in my major, and multiple shifts in career path, I’d finally had a realization- I wanted to be a Jewish professional. I was semi-confident in my decision, took steps to begin exploring what that actually meant, and accepted the role of Assistant Education Director for summer 2015.
As I drove down Good Fellowship Road, I remember feeling nervous about being “the new kid” in a place that thrives on tradition. From the moment I arrived on camp, however, I was welcomed with open arms as my new friends showed me the ropes and taught me their ways. It was important to me that I understood what elements of the camp experience those around me loved most. I was eager to hear their thoughts and stories, and the entire community was willing to share. I value tradition and loved hearing about the rituals and moments that made my co-staff feel most connected to camp, so I asked lots of questions about the details on their favorite camp memories, evening programs, Shabbat happenings, and camp songs. Stories are powerful and stories are vulnerable, so with each detail that they shared I felt more and more a part of the community.
As invested as I was in getting to know camp, the people around me were just as invested in getting to know me. My connection with others in the camp community grew quickly, and soon enough, I’d forgotten I was new. I felt valued, empowered, and loved. Every day was a blast and over the course of the summer I had the opportunity to build my confidence as a Jewish educator and service leader, strengthen friendships, learn from campers, embrace camp tradition as a CG Games captain, work with brilliant mentors and role models, and sharpen my skills by writing educational curriculum and planning community wide events such as Community Leadership Shabbat. My experience during summer 2015 solidified that a path as a Jewish professional was the best path for me. Camp George taught me that leading a fulfilling professional life meant being a part of a community that invigorated and inspired my own connection to Judaism.
Finding Camp George was rather serendipitous, but I couldn’t have asked for a better place to take the next steps in my journey. Not only was I excited to come back the following summer, but I was inspired to grow in my responsibilities and give more to the camp community. My second summer, I returned as the Director of Jewish Life and a member of the hanhallah team. Camp George makes it easy to want to ‘come back’ because camp doesn’t actually end at the end of the summer. The people that made my camp experience incredible became friends that I call daily and drive hours to visit, Rabbis that I speak with when I am stuck on a passage in the Talmud, cantors that have become thought partners on initiatives I’m working on in my home Jewish community, and my biggest cheerleaders from afar. While I’ve now spent a bit of time physically away from camp, I think about the gifts camp has given me every day, and I will always feel at home on Maple Lake.
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