As I have reflected on my time working at Camp Friedenswald this summer, I am reminded of the importance of a place like this for learning and growth. As children become less and less connected with nature I think that having spaces that afford children with opportunities to explore nature become more and more important. One of the first things that needs to happen in order for people to care about our environmental crisis is a connection with nature on some level. When people come to camp they are provided opportunities to connect with nature in a way that are normally difficult to find. I firmly believe that if people do not know nature then they will never care for it. 

During my time working at camp I was reminded of this fact as we explored nature on tree adventure day. My co-counselor Theo and I took our cabin of pre-junior campers out for a nature hike. We walked out to Turtle Hill and as we were hiking they were complaining about the steep climb and asking if we could go back. However, once we arrived we found a plethora of salamanders and frogs (our reason for taking them out there) and their sore legs were quickly forgotten. The excitement they had for these small critters was palpable. As we turned logs each new animal we found resulted in a scramble of bodies as people tried to get looks in. 

What I found particularly inspiring was that these kids were so interested in organisms that are suffering deeply from climate change. Amphibians are one of the most threatened groups of critters out there which makes education about them even more important. If more people saw the beauty in these small creatures instead of being scared of them perhaps we would be more likely to care for them. Having opportunities to discover these creatures at camp is a special and unique experience that I hope exists for another 75 years.