The fire blazed before us, contrasting the night sky perfectly. Everyone was there, from senior to lower; the whole camp gathered around the annual campfire. One by one, singers from both songwriting and all other corners of camp went up to join Malcolm in singing campfire songs like “Our Song” and “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” while the rest of us sang along, cheering on each of our fellow campers. At that moment everything felt so perfect; it was like everyone was exactly where they should be.
WriCampia seems to be the perfect place for everybody, so in that moment I began to wonder: how did we all end up here?
Writers, actors, artists and athletes find comfort here on Camp Danbee’s grounds, spending their mornings writing and afternoons by the lake. But how did we writers come to love writing? How did the roleplayers start playing RPGs? How did the actors find their way to the stage? The singers, their voices?
“I started writing on my mom’s computer as a fun thing when I was young, and it turned into more of a hobby that I enjoyed,” said Middle Camper Maddie G. when asked how she first got into writing. She’s currently enjoying her time in Art Track, and has been going to WriCampia for three years. She started out at Writopia day camp, where eventually she was introduced to WriCampia and ultimately found herself spending two weeks every year focused on her art and writing.
Middle Camper Mika E., who only just joined the WriCampian community this year, decided to choose a track focused on an art that she’d never done before. “I love to write and act and I thought that film would tie them both together. I love to learn about film equipment, types of shots, and the art of filmmaking,” she said. She was inspired to start writing by some of her favorite teachers and continued to do so because she found passion in expressing her emotions through words. As for theater, Mika has been acting in shows since she was young and has already performed in over seven shows. She chose WriCampia because she wanted to experience a sleepaway camp that would allow her to write more, do theater, and enjoy aspects of a typical American sleepaway camp.
Upper Camper Kotarko A., who I found deeply engrossed in a game of DND, is an avid roleplayer and first-year WriCampian. Kotarko, has been doing Writopia workshops since the age of nine and last year found themselves at their first Writopia winter retreat after receiving many emails from Writopia inviting them to join. Originally, they were going to join Page 2 Stage, but eventually something changed their mind. “When I played DND it relit something in me,” said Kotarko, after explaining that much of their childhood was spent roleplaying both in real life and online.
Reflecting on their experience at the winter retreat, Kotarko said they had been scared they would be judged and not make friends, but were surprised to find how welcoming and friendly everyone at the retreat was. They talked about how they were ignored at most other places because of their interests and the way they dressed. At the Writopia retreat, people gravitated to them and wanted to become friends, so they decided to join the WriCampia community. Kotarko also shared: “The staff are the best part, they’re so nice and kind and make the experience so amazing.”
Senior Camper Hayes N. is currently in their third year of the Songwriting Track and fifth year here at WriCampia. They explained how they started out in Page 2 Stage and then transitioned over to Songwriting in their third year. When asked how they got into theater and songwriting, they discussed how they grew up in a very musical household and were looking for a place to create their own music. The reason they continue to come back to WriCampia is because of the friendships and strong bonds that they have created here.
Finally, Maddy K., who is a day-one member of Page 2 Stage, has been going to WriCampia for three years. Maddy said the moment that made her enjoy writing was in third grade, when she and fellow students were asked to write a creative piece having to do with the ocean. She wrote a piece about a penguin and elephant-seal falling in love, describing it as “so corny.” Lastly, she comes back to WriCampia because of the freedom. “I was into writing before Writopia, but before I started WriCampia my only exposure was English where it was like ‘Here’s a prompt, here’s a thing, write now.’ But here you can write whatever you want in whatever genre you want and the amount of choice in activities if you don’t want to write here is awesome.”
After interviewing an extensive group of campers, I found that people came here in very different ways. Some campers started out in Writopia daycamps and made their way to WriCampia, while others jumped straight into this two-week sleepaway. Some have been focused on their same interests for years and some only found their passions recently. Overall, across WriCampians, there is a broad range of’ interests and stories in coming here.
