From Camper to Staff: Bridget
Bridgetâs what you call a lifer! Â She started camp as she finished kindergarten - and that was a long time ago! Â One of her friendsâ parents knew Ronny and her parents decided to give PSDC a shot; it was as simple as that. Â Twenty three years later, Bridget is the Enrollment Manager for our affiliate, Kids Orbit After School Center and is an important member of the PSDC administrative team, especially in the summer. "As a camper, I was always happy. I experienced a wide variety of activities and I always felt comfortable, safe, and like I belonged. Now, as an adult and a member of the team, I see just how much planning, learning, creativity, and hard work goes into creating the ease and fun of the summer."
Bridget spent seven summers at camp as a camper, while camp grew around her. "Back in the day, we could all line up against one wall," Bridget recalls, thinking about her first summer, "I felt like it was my camp. That, even at a young age, I knew that I was part of something new and exciting."
Bridget says that she was the kind of kid who needed to be engaged, entertained, and exposed to new things and Park Slope Day Camp provided just that. Whether she was doing an arts and crafts project or trying something new like karate, she always felt like she was welcome no matter her skill level. Â Bridget confides that she tried another summer camp with a friend one summer but left after a couple days to return to PSDC and that âfeeling of comfort away from home." Â One summer, she arrived all excited for the first day of camp, only to see a camper who she remembered had teased her at a friend's birthday. Lauri, Ronny's wife and our camp Administrator, noticed that Bridget looked distressed and asked what was wrong. Â "Lauri told me 'that's not going to happen here.' And it didn't."
At the ripe old age of 13, the camper t-shirt was hung up and Bridget signed on to be a counselor in training. "There was always a large emphasis on kindness and making sure the kids had a good time. As a camper, I got to have fun. Â As a CIT, I saw that fun didnât just happen, and that there was so much that went in to being a responsible counselor."
Camp was also a place to create lasting friendships. That first summer as a counselor, Bridget met a friend who was a member of her wedding party. She remembers, as a staff member, looking up to Shiry, the current director of staffing and programming, who was the Drama specialist. Â The first summer she spent with Shiry, they were staff buddies. Â Today, they continue their friendship as professional adults. âThe closeness and quality of the relationships I have formed over my years at the Park Slope Day Camp are like those that develop in a sleep away camp, where people live together. Â For me, I liked the added benefit of sleeping in my own bed every night."
23 years after her first summer, Bridget finds the values of honesty, compassion, and self-respect still present in the everyday goings-on of the camp. "The greatest lesson the Park Slope Day Camp has taught me is to know that I am important in the world and that what I do has worth."
