From Summer Camp to Summer Camp: Embracing Identities

Lucy Xin, PRYDE Scholar

Water balloon fights, movie nights, snack times, and just days of fun-filled activities. This sums up my experience as a youth counselor for a summer camp back at home. The summer camp was welcome to anyone, and it was a way for kids to meet others and enjoy the summer break. Each summer, I excitedly got ready and couldn’t wait to meet the campers I would be taking care of; I was looking forward to the countless memories that would be made. The days were extremely rewarding. Seeing everyone’s smiles and hearing the laughter throughout the camp made it all worth it. However, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of emptiness from time to time. While I was enjoying my role as a youth counselor, I was curious about the children’s identities outside of the camp and how they shaped them into the people they are now. I wanted to get to know them more, beyond the interests and hobbies that they shared in camp. Unfortunately, the summer camp was only one week, and it was always heartbreaking to see everyone leave on the last day of camp, knowing that I may never see these kids again. I was craving a deeper kind of connection with youth, and I found it through volunteering as a UCLA x PRYDE Research Bootcamp facilitator this past summer.

When I heard about the opportunity of working with youth in the virtual Boot Camp on Adolescent Research, I was intrigued. The UCLA x PRYDE Boot Camp was an online, two-week long camp that included high schoolers from LA and New York. It was amazing to be able to work with high schoolers from two coasts and see them form connections and bonds with each other. The camp focused on two research topics: sleep and peer bonding. Each day was filled with organic discussions, and as a facilitator, I was responsible for engaging the youth in the discussions. While I expected my role as a facilitator to be challenging, it turned out that this was not difficult to maintain at all. I was fortunate that the campers I worked with were respectful of each other’s thoughts and listened to one another carefully. Every discussion was held within a safe space, welcome to everyone to share their experiences and identities that arose from a variety of backgrounds. As someone who has struggled with their identity as an Asian American in the past, it was a relief to see adolescents discussing mature topics and freely express their thoughts in the boot camp. Up until high school, I sometimes felt uneasy when it came to topics about identities related to race because I was unsure of what it meant to be an Asian and American. It was hard for me to embrace my Asian culture while growing up in America, and it took me a while to reconcile both parts of my identity. However, through this process of acceptance, I was able to connect with the students in the camp in recognizing and understanding the nuances of racial identity development. My own racial reconciliations helped me to become an understanding facilitator who could confidently ensure the campers that everyone’s identities and experiences were valued and appreciated.

One memorable discussion from the camp was when one of the camp directors asked about everyone’s thoughts on the racial diversity of schools. The question quickly shifted into a discussion about school segregation. Youth shared their experiences and their thoughts on school segregation, while also building off each other’s points. Seeing the campers so passionate about a topic together and getting excited in seeking change to take action was very inspiring. Spontaneous discussions like this one made the experience truly valuable to my own professional development as a scholar of youth development. I knew that by the end of camp, my true passion was in working with youth. Their willingness to share and be open-minded, whether it be about hobbies, passions, or identities, had a profound impact on me. Despite not being able to physically meet with these campers, I was still able to connect with them on a deeper level by learning how their identities were a major part of who they were. The research bootcamp provided a unique opportunity for both the campers and me to be in an environment that celebrated everyone’s differences. While I may not be able to predict what exactly the future holds for me, I do know that I’ll want to be continuing my work through the Scholars Program in creating accepting communities that allow diverse youth to thrive.