Counselors Grow Just As Much As The Campers Do. Just Ask Corey!

When we interview staff and ask why they want to work at Camp, they often speak of helping campers: grown, learn and build their self confidence and self esteem. At the end of the season they realize not only have they helped “their kids” grow, they themselves have grown and gained just as much as their campers. We will let Corey MacEachern explain.

Dear Jenn, Justin, Cassie, and TLW family.

It’s hard to believe after 7 amazing summers and many visits I am writing this email. After much consideration and countless conversations with family and friends, I have to start to think about my future. I hope to study nutrition and personal training. Its something I have thought about long and hard, and feel the time is right to start to pursue this dream of mine.

I want to start off by thanking the Directors of TLW. You guys are the glue that holds this place together and make it what it is day in and day out. You have helped me grow into many different roles at camp and made every transition as smooth as possible.

It’s been privileged getting to know amazing people from around the globe. I am blessed to have friends from all over the world, who I can truly call part of my family now. Even as we continue on different paths in our lives, as the camp Alma Mater says “ no, a lifetimes not too long to live as friends.” I will carry these words with me forever and always.

The biggest part of camp is the campers. I am so blessed to have watched kids grow up right before my eyes, some still Campers and some who have gone from Camper to Counselor. “My Campers” truly have had an impact on my life. I don’t consider the young men I watched grow up right in front of me to be campers; I consider them all my younger brothers. The bonds that were created at Timber Lake West are bonds that will last a lifetime. As I go on a different path, I will continue to remain in touch with them.

Camp is not simply a place that people go to each year. It is a place where something indescribable happens. People come together in one big family and your life changes in an instant. I remember my first summer a returning staff member saying “on the last day of camp you’re going to cry. You are going to miss these friends and kids so much it hurts.” I was thinking in my head “are you crazy? I don’t know any of these people”. Well, on the last night, as everyone gathered to sing the Alma Mater, one the last time. I along with 400 plus campers and staff was crying. Camp does something so amazing to you that you can’t help but to miss your big family the moment you leave, so much that it truly does hurt.

I also have Camp to thank for making me into the man I am today. Camp has allowed me to get out of my shell and develop into a wacky young kid at heart and discover who I am. I reference camp on a day-to-day basis, at home. It’s a place that helps mold you into who you are and who you will become. Never in my wildest dreams would I have been the lead in a play, dressed as a woman doing interpreted dance, or screaming at the top of my lungs in a blue man suit saying GO BLUE!!! But yes these are some of the wacky things that I am proud to say I’ve done. I have no regrets nor do I wish I could have done this or wish I could have done that. I have had so many dreams and expectations come true. I have made memories that I will cherish for the rest of my life. There are no words or emotions I could ever say enough, to thank you for all you have done for me in these past 7 years. Every summer, month, week, day, minute, second has been something I will treasure. I am not writing this as a goodbye, it’s more of a see you later. As we like to say at the end of the summer “don’t cry because its over, smile because it happened.”