We spent the day making sure the teams enjoyed their last round through each venue, with chances to learn more skills and plenty of free time for campers to play with their new JASY friends. Blue and Green teams also competed in a football match that was hyped up throughout the week, and a JASY volunteers match took place following the end of camp, too.
Heavy hearts hidden behind loud cheers and large smiles welcomed the campers on the last day of JASY Camp. It was already the last day. Time had flown by and all we wanted was more time to get to know them, encourage them and make each camper feel important.
Our last day with the campers was all about “the finish line” – what the campers wanted to do with their lives and how we could encourage them to strive for those goals in our last few hours together. At the end of the venue rotation and games, we hosted a Closing Ceremony to recognize each camper with a sports photo and medal and honored campers who showed extraordinary sportsmanship, leadership, and citizenship.
Before the end of the day, the campers took the time to share what they hoped their finish lines would look like:
What our JASY Campers see as their FINISH LINE:
Doctor, police officer, FBI agent, pilot, a JASY volunteer, engineer, chef, farmer, footballer, husband, psychologist, dancer, lawyer, electrician
“In life, it’s not the fastest people that always win but the ones who endure the most.” [Written by a JASY Camper who wants to become a doctor]
As one JASY camper wrote, many of the children and teens have endured more than we can imagine and know after spending only five days together. But they are resilient. The JASY program takes place year after year to help nurture and motivate this resiliency. Despite any challenging circumstances they may be experiencing, JASY campers don’t carry hardship in their eyes. They come to camp with positivity and bring out the same child-like spirit in us.
And so we thought we came here to give and share our time, attention, knowledge, and encouragement, but we didn’t expect to receive so much in return. As individuals and as a group, we all grew through this experience together. We taught the campers about faith and teamwork, and in those relay races their confidence and leadership came alive. In ourselves, we became more confident as coaches, teachers, and role models.
We asked campers to jump off the side of a pool for the first time, play a game they believed they weren’t good at, and write about what matters to them. We built trust. And as we asked the campers to think of their goals and what they wanted to accomplish in life, their aspirations filled us with as much hope as we sought to give them.
On our final nights, we shared stories and moments from the week that solidified how much JASY Camp matters. And just as it was to write this post, it was difficult to find the words on those nights to describe to these moments that now carry so much weight in our memories. Watery eyes, tight throats, and long pauses often spoke the loudest.
The words may be simple, but we can all agree that JASY enlightened us, inspired us, and brought us together for a week of memories and friends we won't forget.
We tried our best to capture the joy of the week through the camera lens, to catch as much camper energy on video as possible, and give words to our emotions, experiences, and lessons learned each day. But every camper and every volunteer has their own story to share, so keep reading, listening and learning about JASY. Watch the video of our last day of JASY Camp 2018 here:
JASY Camp 2018 may be over, but the mission is not. Stay up to date with stories, photos, and the future of JASY here, at jasy.info, on Facebook, and on our new Instagram page, @jasy.camp.
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