A Place to Come Back to What Matters
In recent weeks, I’ve found myself reflecting deeply on the world we are living in and the world our young people are inheriting.
It can feel like there is so much heaviness everywhere we turn: conflict, division, cruelty, fear, and uncertainty. Many of us are carrying questions that don’t have easy answers. How do we raise children with hope? How do we teach them to stay grounded when so much feels unsteady? How do we hold on to our shared humanity when it can sometimes feel like the world is forgetting it?
And then, within the span of just a few days, I received two emails from alumni that helped me make sense of these thoughts.
An alum from the 1970s and 80s wrote about feeling overwhelmed by the suffering in the world, and how, without even realizing it, she began singing old camp songs. She described camp as a place where unity and community still thrive—where the values and friendships formed long ago remain something they can draw strength from today. Her words reminded me that what happens at BCCYMCA doesn’t stay in the summer. It becomes part of a person.
Another alum from the early 2000s shared a reflection on one of our long-standing Camp Becket mottos, “Manners Maketh the Man.” He admitted that as a young camper, it once felt outdated – something from another era. But now, in a world where public discourse is increasingly harsh and disrespect can feel normalized, he’s come to see the motto differently. Not as a lesson in etiquette, but as a lesson in character. A reminder that civility, compassion, and respect aren’t old-fashioned – they are essential.
What these alumni were sharing (and what so many of us also know in our hearts) is that camp is not an escape from the real world—it is one of the places where young people learn how to live in the real world.
Wherever you are, and however you’re feeling about the state of the world right now, we hope you carry camp in your heart. Because the values we live here—community, compassion, belonging, and commitment —are not just camp values. They are human values, and they matter more than ever.
