What some campers had to say about their experiences

Omega teen camp is a place I go to recharge myself and find the person I really am.
The first summer I attended camp, I was going through some rough times. Being at OTC helped me find ways to cope with the struggles I was going through. I was not only learning ways to deal, I was able to find ways to improve myself as a whole and to see things that I never thought possible. During an activity called “Finding the power in yourself,” I learned that I was capable of doing anything I wished: forming a relationship of love, being committed to maintain a healthy body, and loving myself for who I am.

Omega teen camp (as clichéd as this may sound) is a second home. I have met my greatest and closest friends at omega, and formed deep personal bonds. Omega refreshes me. It gives me hope, inspiration, and confidence. It is a beautiful community of beautiful people where I feel at ease and at one with myself. I need the energy, the hope, all the loving hands guiding, pushing, and believing in me. This is a place of teaching, of realizing dreams.

I don’t know who I would be without OTC. I first came as a shy, quiet, timid boy. I was afraid. I had pretty low expectations and opinions of myself. But over the year I have gone there, that has changed dramatically. I love myself, I trust myself.

This past year has been filled with so much growth, success, struggle, balance, excitement and creativity and I owe every bit of my gratitude to Omega.
Last summer I grew more than I ever expected a human could in one month. It was intense — filled with joy, tears, excitement, sadness, confusion and plenty of mind-blowing experiences. I would choose no other place but Omega to experience all these emotions. As a result of such an intensely emotional summer I have evolved in ways I never could have imagined. I have a much different outlook on the world. I am so grateful for everything and everyone that helped me at camp. In some ways, I believed that Omega has saved my life. For the first time ever I was able to meet people as free spirited and radical as me. I have met amazingly beautiful people that have taught me things I will never forget. At OTC I felt that I belonged, and most importantly, I felt safe to feel whatever I was feeling.

I am constantly talking and most importantly, thinking about Omega. A day does not pass without me mentioning a special moment, friends that I made, or what I experienced last summer.

I really bonded with several of the counselors and am still in contact with a few of them. I can drop a letter or send an email on a bad day and they will listen with such intent.

I have been with Omega since its first year and I can say with utmost sincerity that this camp is paradise. Every year I learn an innumerable amount of things and have incredibly rewarding experiences. Each year is better than the last.

At OTC I particularly enjoy the new and amazing people I meet. …And how comfortable I am with them. They help me see life in a better light. I feel totally at ease when I am at camp and feel comfortable expressing myself.

One amazing thing about Omega is the counselors; every one I encountered was kind, understanding, and accepting. Last year when I was upset about a situation, my counselors would take the time to talk to me. They never pressured me to discuss what was up; instead they assured me they were there for me if or when I wanted to talk. They also shared personal experiences that were similar to mine. This assured me that they really did understand how I felt. The evening activities are some of my favorite things at Omega. They were funny, cool and unique. Every one was different and fun.

Girls weekend allowed me to be myself without the pressure of worrying about what guys thought. It helped me to develop deeper relationships with girl friends whom I came to appreciate more than they know.

I’m so grateful to all the counselors and everyone who was there. I feel like that was probably the most significant, amazing two weeks of my life so far. It gave me so much hope for my future and the world in general.

Well, it is about that time again when I have to start making plans for the summer and the one thing I am absolutely certain about returning to Omega for teens. I would absolutely love the opportunity to spend another blissful two weeks on the campgrounds, and I know I will have just as much fun. I felt I was myself there and that it took me away from the chaos of everyday life. It let me sit back and take a look at life, and the world in general, in a new perspective.

I went to Omega Teen Camp in the summer of 2006, and now I split my life into two parts: before Omega Teen Camp and after Omega Teen Camp. Before I went to camp I was always dragging myself down. Not literally of course, but I always had this lingering feeling that kept me from ever feeling open and happy with other people. I had a hard time getting close to people, and even when I was close, I had a hard time being myself, and opening up around my friends. Part of this had to do with the fact that I was always self-conscious, and also that I had a hard time believing that anyone could really, truly, like me forever.

This all changed for me when I got to camp. I remember feeling anxious and nervous about going to live with people who I had never met. I was terrified because I kept having thoughts along the lines of “What if they don’t like me? I’ll still have to live with them and see them every day.” I was always so ready to have people reject me, because for so long before that, I had rejected myself.

I have never, in my life, been so wrong about something. Omega was everything I thought it wouldn’t be. I got there only to be greeted by friendly, remarkable people who seemed genuinely interested in me and what I did with my life. My cabin mates seemed to be honest and accepting. I didn’t understand how people I had never met could be so open with their thoughts and feelings. As each day went on, I opened up more and more, because it seemed as though that’s what people around me were doing: sharing their life experiences, their joys their fears.

I think that seeing other people open themselves up helped me to realize that I could never be comfortable in myself if I didn’t share important things about myself with others. So I gave it a shot. I let people into my life. I shared stories I’d never told anyone before and in turn, others shared stories with me. Many were stories I’d never imagined, things so personal it seemed to bond us in that mushy, “Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants “ kind-of-way. That bond you read about in a childhood book and think “Wow, that’s nice, but really it could never happen.”

Well, it did. I formed relationships with people in ways I had never imagined, especially people I had only met weeks before. These people I was living with and sharing myself with helped me overcome my fears of rejection and my reservations about opening up to other people.

Now, I’m a pretty well-adjusted person. Thanks to Omega, I formed bonds with more people than I could ever conceive, and when I came home I was able to become close to the people who were already in my life by opening up to them more than I had ever been able to in the past. I’ve become a much happier person, someone who’s more outgoing and friendly than most of the other people I know. I don’t have my fears holding me back anymore, and I don’t have doubts about people and their hidden agendas. Now I have happiness and trust in and with, the people around me, and I can attribute it all to Omega Teen Camp. It changed my life in only two weeks, and I can’t imagine spending this summer anywhere else.

What a few parents had to say

Ben won’t say which year has been the best—according to him, they are all different and they are all good. But he’s focused on securing a month with you next year and I suppose that says it all.

Thanks for creating such a safe and accepting place. After a year of proving themselves and competing in school it’s such a relief to send them somewhere they can just be who they are and be appreciated for it.

My son has had a limited social life due to a range of learning disabilities, and emotional and behavioral fall-out. It has been difficult for him at school. For me it’s been a journey to many places, perhaps the most ugly being the prejudice, ignorance, and cruelty of adults towards him. When he saw your brochure and he said he wanted to go, I was amazed. He had never expressed such an interest. And that interest held through a lot of ups and downs this year. I signed him up for the full four weeks with fingers crossed. He arrived at your camp quietly nervous. After I dropped him off, I was prepared to pick him up in two hours, two days, or two weeks.

Well, he stayed the entire time. When I visited him between the two sessions I found a young man who, for the first time in his life, did not have dark clouds shadowing his face. He had made friends; he had negotiated daily camp life. He learned to not just get along, but to admire kids and adults very different from himself and those he had encountered in the public school system. He is not talkative but with prompting, he shared an amazing range of experiences and insights.

My son was nervous that OTC would be similar to the camp he went to where when he told some campers he was an atheist, they made him feel very out of place and embarrassed. I tried to assure him this wouldn’t happen at OTC, but I have to admit, I was worried that it might. His experience at OTC was incredible. After a few days adjustment he found he could totally be himself, express himself, and try new things with no fear of being made fun of.

We were thrilled when he wrote to us that he had read some of his poetry at the talent show. When we picked him up from camp, we were thrilled to see how many friends he had made and how comfortable he was hugging his friends goodbye. As we drove away several counselors shouted good-byes and he was thrilled.

He talked for hours about his experiences I asked him what his favorite part of camp. He told me he loved all the stuff he did, but hanging out and talking with the kids and counselors was the best part for him. Without any prompting on my part, he told us how he planned to go back next summer.

Every counselor I met at teen camp supported, uplifted and was human and super human to all the kids and me.

Thank you for providing my daughter Alison with such happy memories!!! According to her the time at teen camp was “amazing!!!”

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