Step into Bunk 18 in the late evening, and you’ll find seven middle campers tucked into bed, two CITs reading aloud from a mattress on the floor, and three counselors reading along from their own copies. This nightly ritual is essential to the sense of community at WriCampia – all parties involved find the activity sweet and bonding. This year’s book is The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton.
“Being read to makes me feel little again – in a good way!” said Moxie K., Middle Camper. Another Bunk 18 camper, Olive L., described the experience as “super calming, perfect for just before bed.” Indeed, by the time each chapter of the iconic coming-of-age novel comes to a close, several campers are sleeping peacefully.
“The Outsiders is such a sweet and important book,” said Valerie C., a CIT. “The kids appreciate its maturity, and the counselors remember it from their own childhoods.”
Indeed, the CIT experience, similarly to The Outsiders, transcends generations. Ella Goodman, a counselor in Bunk 18, remembers her own senior summer, when she herself was a CIT: “It’s a snapshot of counselor-hood. It’s very different, but I appreciate the familiarity… I mean, a lot of the girls I’m a counselor for, I also used to be a CIT for.”
In this way, Bunk 18 represents a microcosm of the CIT phenomenon in all its stages. The cycle allows young campers to feel more at home and establish relationships with older kids, while also training senior campers to take on further responsibilities and engage with formative texts in a new way. When asked if they wanted to be CITs in the future, the response from Bunk 18 was unanimous: “YES!”
