Way Up North

I never really was much of a summer camp kid. After one bad experience at a church camp at the age of five, I always refused to be shipped off to some woodlands camp for weeks at a time. However, during my sophomore year of high school, we were given the opportunity to go with our fellow sophomores to Poly North, on paper a classic camp experience. I wasn’t all too psyched to go, but quite a few of my friends wanted to go so I begrudgingly accepted the offer.

The long bus ride out of the Los Angeles metropolis and into the forest had me worried. I had no experience in this sort of environment, so if they made me canoe or rock climb or hike or whatever else you do in the middle of nowhere, I would be clueless. When we first arrived, it was very apparent this converted YMCA camp was going to be extremely different than the traditional camp idea that was in my mind.

Before we had arrived, the staff, all seniors from Poly, had divided us into separate cabins, dispersing the different ethnic groups, academic programs, and athletic teams into mixed groups. I only knew two people in my group, and was instantly forced to mix with people that I never would have talked to at school. They just weren’t part of “my group”, ya know?

We started off the weekend by sitting in our cabins, quiet, not really sure what was going on. After a few minutes of looking around confused, our cabin leader Trey ended the silence. “Alright, I don’t care about names. Tell me every racist joke, stereotype, or demeaning fact you have ever heard about blacks.”

Wait, what? We didn’t know what to say. Is he being serious? He was African-American himself, and I surely didn’t want to offend anyone. After minutes of prodding us along, we started to slowly share our thoughts. 30 minutes later we had a comprehensive list of every African-American stereotype we had ever heard. The process was then repeated, and pretty soon we had covered Asians, Caucasians, Latinos, and Pacific Islanders. Sure, it was amusing, but what did it have to do with anything?

Trey then shared with us the purpose of this exercise. Long Beach Poly, a school that represented over 200 different ethnic groups and over 90 different languages, requires a tight-knit community to support the amount of diversity it has. By clearing the air of all the stereotypes before we met each other, we could focus on being friends with everyone, rather than sticking in our own “group”. The rest of the weekend had many similar activities, all for the purpose of breaking traditional stereotypes and strengthening the Jackrabbit community.

I didn’t get to go hiking or horseback riding like a traditional camp, but Poly North was one of the best weekends of my life. After the trip I was comfortable with everyone, no matter his or her race, age, gender, or socioeconomic background. Honestly, I would consider that one of my unique qualities, as most who attend TCU haven’t had the same diverse experience as I did. I will never forget my time at Poly North, and I will carry the things I learned about others and myself for the rest of my life.