**Updated with contributions from our campers**
Because of Camp I…
Take a moment to complete this sentence… What has camp done for you? How are you a better person for having been at Crane Lake? What skills have you learned? Who did you meet along the way? Share your thoughts by leaving a comment on our blog and show your gratitude by making a difference in a campers life by contributing to the Crane Lake Camp Scholarship Fund.
Have a wonderful job working with incredible people!
I AM A STRONGER INDIVIDUAL ENRICHED IN A JEWISH LIFE!
Fact.
Because of Susan’s seven years at Crane Lake, she is president of her TYG and I am President of our Temple. But most importantly our family embraces the joy of being a Reform Jew everyday.
have learned that it’s okay to be who I am and more importantly, to be proud of who I am. I’ve made some of my best friends and I know I always have a group of people to catch me when I fall.
learned to love services and therefore became a better jew.
I’ve met some of the most amazing peope I’ll ever meet. The kind of people you may not see everyday, but each time you meet you can just pick up right where you left off. I’ve become a better version of myself and always have a place I know I belong.
I literally am who I am today, I have attended Crane Lake for 6 summers 1 being a counselor and I have learned to be happy with myself and who I am. I love camp and have met so many life long friends there. I can be who I am and everyone is accepting and welcoming, its a judge free zone. With out camp I would have never gone to Israel summer of 2008 and had the best time of my life and met several other kids I never knew before who I am now very good friends with.
I have learn that, at no matter what age, summer camp is a place where you can fully embrace who you really are. As someone who learned to love camp, not as a camper, but as a young adult, I feel that I have a slightly different point of view than most others. I view camp as an opportunity for kids of all ages to learn that, from no matter what background you may come from, everybody deserves an equal amount of respect and freedom. My involvement in Jewish camps and youth groups has also reinvigorated my family and I to become more involved in our Jewish community, which I now believe to be one of the most important aspects of my life.
have made amazing friends that i can turn to for anything, have a closer connection to my Jewish identity, have been elected president of KESHER at University of Delaware, have learned how to lead, found a love for working with children, and learned what makes me happy. It has provided me with memories that I can think back on whenever I am sad.
am the person that I am today. Camp made me stronger, more confident and outgoing and shaped me into the individual that I currently am. It also provided lasting relationships and opportunities I might have never otherwise gotten.
Shaped my career, my friends, my religious views, my life. Taught me to be a friend, leader, and human being. Camp gave me my life.
…have learned how to embrace every day with happiness. Camp has reminded me what it feels like to be happy.
I am more outgoing and confident than I ever was before, and I know that it’s okay to be myself and that there are people out there who like me for me.
…have a home away from home, family and friends from all over the world, and a place where I’ve watched my children grow into strong Jewish adults.
…have been able to share my experiences and love for camp with my younger campers who I hope will return as staff and share this information with their campers just as my counselors did for me.
…have had the privilege to be part of a warm and caring community that has benefited our family in so many ways. Having grown up in URJ camping ourselves, we have now watched our children grow and thrive from camper to staff member through their various roles, and to make lifelong friends. Camp doesn’t end when summer ends because it’s not only a physical place, but a state of mind that stays with you all year round and for a lifetime.
have become engaged with youth in new and compelling ways. Camp has deepened my connection to the Reform movement and given me a new extended family that I am always happy to see!
Have had the opportunity to make some of my best friends, and watch my children make theirs. I know that my kids are who they are, AMAZING YOUNG ADULTS, because of the times they spent at CLC and the relationships they made there. And- I have grown professionally, and have had the opportunity to interact with so many amazing campers!
I mean, there’s all of the little things that I got out of camp… I can play the guitar, sail a sailboat, hit a tennis ball, and have some level of job security for ensuing summers. But that doesn’t matter at all; I’d be able to get along fine in life without those things.
Camp fundamentally changed me as a person. When I first came to camp at age ten, I was shy, insecure in social situations, and had tragically low self-confidence. In the years I was a camper, I realized that I was so much more than that. Camp gave me friendships that I cherish more than anything, and it turned me into a person that I’m incredibly proud of being. I wouldn’t trade that experience for anything.
…am able to face the world head on with confidence. In my 11 years (so far) at camp I have learned: how to be independent, how to speak to people, how I come across, what sarcasm is, which country has the best accent, that services can be fun, the importance of having taking time for yourself, and what real friends are.
Camp has not only inspired me to work with children as a career, but to think outside the box when it comes to relationships, jobs and traveling. Because of camp I have visited a dozen countries and seen a familiar face in more than half of them. Camp has made me into a more confident leader, and all around person, and allowed me to realize it’s okay to make mistakes. Crane Lake has helped shape me into the adult I am today.
Because of camp i have a renewed faith in people and community and what it means to work as a team
I found the place where I feel I fit in the most. I met people who have inspired me to great things. People who motivate me. People who I know consider family.
Thanks to camp I have met people from all over the world and I know that if I go to those places, there will always be at least one friend there to help me out.
I know who I am and where I am going.
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