SuperCamp Staff Member Tom Jarrell’s True Story

Parties were always interesting for Tom. People would get together and pass the time chatting, drinking, eating or any combination of the three. They would be doing all of these activities without noticing the guy in the corner; the guy standing in the corner and doing his best to stay out of notice.

Tom didn’t like parties because they brought out the worst in him. A normally quiet guy, Tom became even more so at parties. He never knew what to say. He never knew what to wear. In short, he always felt that whatever he did say or did wear would be the talk of the party. He felt people would mock him. He felt all the eyes peering down on him whenever he left the corner. He felt that when he did open his mouth, people would think he was stupid. Tom felt like an outcast and he hated every minute of it.

Not that he was otherwise an upbeat person. Tom found life to be rather dreary. He found himself depressed, sometimes for no reason at all. Nobody could pull him out of this state. Family tried, the few friends he had tried and other tried, but all failed. Tom’s personality became a self-fulfilling prophecy. Whenever he felt uncomfortable, he would withdraw and become silent. The more family and friends tried to help, the more uncomfortable Tom became. The more Tom became uncomfortable, the more family and friends tried to help.

Then Tom talked to his cousins. They told him about a camp they attended that gave them a new take on life. They seemed to like it a lot, he thought so why wouldn’t he? Anything that would give him a way to be more comfortable in the world was worth a shot.

Around the middle of the ten-day course, Tom watched as team leaders and other camp counselors ran into the room carrying boards. They looked pumped up, they acted pumped up and they had an enthusiasm he had never seen. As one of the “Rocky” movie theme songs, “Eye of the Tiger,” blasted overhead, the counselors smashed the boards in front of them. Then they turned to the campers and said it was there turn.

The counselors told them to take a board, write their biggest fear on it, and then smash it with their hand or foot as a symbol that they were now free of this fear. Tom wrote his fear and gave the board to his partner. His partner braced himself with the board. Then campers turned as the normally quiet Tom screamed like a banshee and smashed right through the board.
In that moment, Tom got his silence. He realized he didn’t have to be paralyzed with concern over what others thought of him. He discovered hidden resentments for his family that he never knew. It dawned on him how much he concerned himself with the thoughts and opinions of others. He vowed to himself in that moment that it would be the last time such thoughts acted like an anchor on his life.

Tom came out of SuperCamp a more expressive person. He likes his quiet moments and down time, but it is a choice and not a consequence. Everyday, he looks for opportunities to break out of his shell and meet someone new. Instead of reading and waiting out the last five minutes of class, he talks to the people around him. He said his new behavior has led to some great conversations and even made him a few new friends.
Through SuperCamp he has a life goal. He wants to be an author and, thanks to SuperCamp he said, now has the tools to use to make it a reality.

SuperCamp Staff Member Jenn Meyer’s True Story

Jenn is one of those rare campers that heard of SuperCamp almost by accident. Her parents had few worries about her. She had plenty of self-confidence. Her grades were great and she had a ton of friends.

She went to SuperCamp because a friend was going to SuperCamp. She was bored during the summer and thought that going to SuperCamp sounded fun. What the heck, she thought. She didn’t have anything better to do.

She didn’t know what to expect, but took a positive attitude into the trip. On the first day of camp, she felt like one of the few people that actually wanted to be there. She didn’t let that throw her and jumped into every activity with the same passion.

Still, the experience held something for Jenn that she didn’t expect. One of the key components of SuperCamp is an event called “labeling night.” During this event, campers are taught the power of negative labels. They discuss how they are labeled or how they have labeled other people. As the instructor spoke, Jenn thought about her own life and what this meant.

Jenn came from a town where people don't wear their problems or secrets right out on their sleeves. You don't really know much about someone unless they have told you. So when the instructor spoke about the use of words such as ghetto, bitch, gay, fag and retard, she had to stop and think. She realized that labeling may seem like harmless fun, but it could make an unnecessary judgment on the person being labeled. She realized that she didn’t know many people that received labels. She thought about how hurtful it could be for a gay person to be called a “fag.” She realized that she needed to respect people more and stop labeling. She vowed to stop judging people at first encounter and even cut down on her swearing.

The realizations continued though camp. She met her team and they amazed her. There are many exercises at SuperCamp that require you to trust other people and those people to trust you. Knowing that there are people out there that would stop time to help her made her feel so wonderful and loved. Whenever she got upset or sad, she would think about them. It warmed her heart to know that if she needed them, they would be there with open arms, an open mind, and an open heart. She didn’t think people like that existed anymore and here she was with a whole team of them.

Jenn returned home and made some changes she didn’t think she needed. She changed her circle of friends immediately. She stopped hanging out with her previous friends because they drank a lot and didn't really care much about anything. Odd, given the fact that she rarely drank alcohol. She realized that she had been friends with this group only because she had been friends with them for a long time and nothing more. She wanted friends that supported her and found a new circle quite quickly.

Even though she didn’t feel any need for SuperCamp, she said her life is better than it has ever been. She has wonderful friends that love her for who she is and not who they want her to be. Her family supports her more and her relationships are very strong mainly because of SuperCamp. She has no problem confronting people in a positive manner with her problems and concerns. She calls SuperCamp the most rewarding experience she has ever done.

Jenn can’t wait to have children so she could enroll them at SuperCamp, too.