By Maxanne Wallace-Segall, age 15
This year, as campers poured into the dining hall for their first breakfast of 2024 WriCampia, they were hit with disappointment, and in some cases, genuine fear, as to what they would do without the availability of hot breakfast drinks like coffee and tea. Last year, morning hot chocolate and tea became a staple in many camper’s morning routines. Upper Camper Asha H. told The Yearly WriCampian about her hot chocolate empire last year: “I would gather as many hot chocolate packets as I could, and distribute them amongst my workshop and bunk.” But Asha, along with many other campers, were saddened that this year, hot water was no longer available for drinks in the dining hall, and confused as to why such a cherished privilege was taken from them.
According to Director Rebecca Wallace-Segall, it turns out that this policy is Danbee-initiated; Danbee campers are never allowed access to hot water in the dining hall to ensure that no one accidentally burns themselves or others. While WriCampia campers were allowed access last year, this year, WriCampia and Danbee decided together that it would be safer to remove camper access to hot water altogether, as the risk of injury was too great.
This director-decision has impacted some campers beyond disappointment; many older campers faced genuine caffeine addiction withdrawals. To ensure that no campers return home with new caffeine addictions, campers have never been allowed to drink coffee. But with access to hot water, campers often found a way last summer, whether through tea or sneaking coffee. But now, the campers who got away with coffee sips here and there last year, found themselves with no caffeine source. One such camper was Upper Camper Christina Merikas. During the school year, Christina drinks one to two cups a day, and during the summer, consistently drinks one regular coffee and one cappuccino. Needless to say, the transition from many milligrams of caffeine to zero was a tough one. She reported having “…really, really bad migraines, my head pounding, being irritated, and really tired.” Her friend, Upper Camper Mason, popped in to add that Christina had every single caffeine withdrawal symptom besides depression. Furthermore, many WriCampian activities require a lot of focus from campers, and many of us rely almost entirely on caffeine for that burst of focused energy.
Christina isn’t alone in her caffeine addiction. Upper Camper Violet Cunningham shared that she, too, had felt fatigued and angered since she had departed from coffee. She drinks six to seven a week at home. Indeed, the topic of many camp conversations have been about how much campers miss coffee. Many Upper and Senior campers drank four to seven coffees a week regularly.
Regardless of what this reveals about campers’ less-than-healthy caffeine habits, it’s created a necessity for alternative solutions, and surprisingly, an opportunity for new traditions. For example, Instructor Lil’s workshop, along with many others, have begun having a Tea Time halfway through workshop. The workshop takes a quick trip from the gazebo to the dining hall, and Lil and Counselor Laura gather cups of hot water to make tea and hot chocolate for campers. This tradition was started almost a decade ago by a beloved counselor, Dan Kitrosser, and instructors Lena and Ella have pioneered the tradition’s return. Other instructors soon followed their example. Tea Time has become a new staple for Lil’s workshop, and campers in this workshop no longer miss breakfast teas or hot chocolates. Christina was able to find a counselor willing to make her daily green teas. Since she’s begun her new green tea routine, her withdrawal symptoms have gone away almost entirely. On Sunday, the 18th, an announcement was made encouraging all instructors to start Tea Time with their workshop. Even though many WriCampians are heavily addicted to caffeine, we proved to be resourceful, as we survived and even found new joy in the transition from morning tea, coffee, and hot chocolate, to mid-workshop Tea-Time.
