By Anjali Kapoor ’20
It was 2 AM and I was alone in the woods. Under the stars and next to a fire, I stayed up all night writing a letter to my 21-year-old self. It was vigil night—a camp tradition since 1930. Camp Rising Sun is a full scholarship international leadership camp that I attended this summer in Rhinebeck New York.
Growing up I always heard the term “diversity,” but this camp was diverse on a whole new level. I got to meet girls from over 30 countries in North and South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. In fact, a couple of my best friends at camp were from Israel, Korea, and Spain! We received instructions about academics, art, or culture every day, led by campers or counselors. One of my favorite instructions was by a Spanish camper who taught us a Spanish dance, el candil. In another instruction, a counselor who is an acrobat at a circus taught us how to do tricks on the silks. I learned cultural dances, listened to new music in different languages, and tried food from all over the world. One girl described camp as a way to “travel around the world without going anywhere.”
Another fun part of camp was being sachem. Sachem is a Native American term for chief or leader, and the sachem gets to run camp. I was chosen as sachem of our wilderness trip, a three-day hiking and camping trip at another campsite. At the campsite, we cooked by fire and sang our favorite songs every night as we made s’mores. When another camper was sachem, she organized a fashion show. It was so fun dressing up, taking pictures, and strutting down our runway. Another night, the sachem organized a murder mystery night. We teamed up and ran around the buildings with flashlights looking for clues about the murderer among us.
We also had council on Thursdays, another camp tradition. It would start by us meeting after dinner in silence, singing “Rise up Old Flames,” and walking into the woods in a single file line holding candles. We would sit around a huge fire and pass around the council rock. When you received the rock, you had the opportunity to talk in front of the whole camp. Counselors would share life advice and campers would share personal stories or sing songs. Finally, we would end every council with our arms around each other singing “Lean On Me.” This really reinforced the bond between everyone at camp.
This camp is everything a traditional summer camp is and more! We still did the usual fun summer activities, such as canoeing in our camp lake and sleeping in cots underneath large tents of tarp every night. However, I also got to meet girls from all over the world. This camp was such a life-changing experience, I wanted to share it with everyone. I learned so much and have made friendships that will last a lifetime!