Having siblings at camp can help you feel more at home, but when you’re supposed to be away from your family and just with your friends it can also feel like they are intruding a little bit. Being a camper with a sibling here myself, I can tell you, it does feel like a little bit of both.
Many campers are glad to have their siblings here. Emilia and Sofia K. say that being in the same bunk and workshop makes their parents feel better because they always have a built-in friend here. Having siblings here can make parents feel comfortable sending their kids here; Willa B. said that “I check in with my sister because my mom asks me to.”
The camp started with a small family camp. Senior Camper Maxanne W-S said, “When camp started out we were just in family camp with our family friends Rafi and Nina. Soon Teo and Julia joined! All of us were together this year as CIT’s, except for Nina who graduated already.” Her sister Jo from Upper Camp added, “When we were younger, we hung out all the time at camp until we got older and had friends our age.”
Another pair of siblings, Alex and Linh (also known as Stella) P., both noted that having a sibling here helped them. Alex said that since he came to camp while Linh was in Acres, it “didn’t exactly help [him] fit in, but did help him get around.” He added that their relationship was different than most siblings, because they often talked and were friends.
Although having a sibling can be great, it can at times be difficult and even upsetting. Willa B. says that her sister “humiliates her in front of her friends,” and her sister, Olive B., says that Willa “tries to steal [her friends] away.” Siblings who are younger, and also closer in age, do seem to have more challenging experience than those older or further apart in age.
I personally have a sibling named Jahan S., who is great, even though he walks around and asks everyone with his friend Finn (even me, his own sister) if they are a counselor, and then say there is a squirrel doing the macarena or a elephant doing kangnam style–but he’s my brother so he is family, and I (almost always) accept his hugs.
