Friday, January 24, 1997
UNICAMP:
Joys of working with children, nature’s beauty elicit ode to
official university charity
I just found out today that it was UniCamp week. My editors will
probably be pissed off about the late topic change, but I’m sorry
to say that I don’t care. The Daily Bruin used to run a four-page
advertisement in support of UniCamp, UCLA’s official charity, but I
guess they care more about advertising money now than they do about
UniCamp. I figured, what good is a position of relative power if
you can’t (ab)use it for a good cause?
I know the punctuation is messed up, and they’re all fragments,
but just consider this a poem, an ode to UniCamp.
I first noticed UniCamp when I saw a bunch of people running
around in green sweatshirts with little trees on them. People
wearing funky-colored shirts. I guess it must’ve been UniCamp week.
A cute guy from my floor did it his first year. But I was too busy
with a summer job and too stressed out after a trying freshman year
to volunteer. My second summer was the same story. "Next year," I
thought.
Well the next year came and I heard wonderful stories from the
people at my work about UniCamp. I saw their weird necklaces
(monkey’s fist) and heard stories about "poop-outs" and "biffies".
I saw photo albums full of dirty kids, pine trees and people
hugging. People talking about CO Â (counselors) and referring
affectionately to pictures of "my kids."
I thought, "I wanna check out this UniCamp stuff for
myself."
So I did. I stressed out about the application. Met my session
and the leadership staff. But I wasn’t sure if I could do this
UniCamp thing. I kept going to meetings and stuck with it, hoping
to one day have my own monkey’s fist and a photo album full of
pictures.
Work weekend (a training weekend) was the best. Despite my
hectic schedule, going up to the mountains was the best stress
relief I had found in years. We kept preparing for the day "the
kids" would arrive. Finally, Session 3 became a reality.
The night before, we were all scared, wondering how we would
handle a group of 7- to 14-year-olds. All worried that they
wouldn’t like us. Wondering why we cared so much. The buses arrived
early, and from then on all the training went into action.
Late nights, bug bites and dirty, sweaty days. Teaching kids
about nature, teaching kids about each other, teaching kids about
themselves, and learning all about ourselves in the process.
Counting on your CO, counting on your fellow counselors, counting
on the leadership staff, and most of all learning to count on
yourself.
Being in a place where the most important thing was getting to
your activity on time, being the first unit to get lunch, or making
a trip to the BIF (bathroom in the forest).
Not having to worry about school, work or your messy room. Not
caring about your clothes, your hair or what people really thought
of you. Falling asleep at night, feeling tired. A good tired.
Then there’s the point when you stop counting heads. Realizing
that you loved your kids when you gave up the last brownie.
Sounding like your Mom. Putting them to bed at night. Saying
goodbye. That call the day after camp, from your toughest kid,
telling you they miss you already.
Seeing the stars at night. From the corral, like at the
planetarium. And feeling like you were worlds away, even though you
were only a half hour into the mountains. Smelling green pines, the
dirty lake, waking up to birds chirping.
Clean underwear being a big thrill. Being able to go bathroom in
a "flushie"! Eating pork rinds at the gas station on the way home
because you just found out it was your favorite junk food and you
never noticed that you missed it before.
That two-hour shower the minute you get back. A 12-hour nap.
Session parties!
I really have no right to make this little ode. There are people
who have devoted countless hours, sleepless nights and many summers
to make UniCamp a success. Who’ve made it happen year after year.
If I listed all their names it would take a four-page ad in The
Bruin. (I couldn’t help with tabling guys, so here’s my
contribution: You guys ROCK!)
UniCamp is about kids, about the belief that "All kids deserve a
chance." You can call them disadvantaged, underprivileged,
low-income or whatever else the new PC term is this year. But face
it  they’re kids. They get homesick, they get scared and
you’d be surprised how much they can teach you if you give them a
chance.
They need you. There aren’t many role models for poor African
American and Latino kids. I know. I didn’t have many.
UniCamp isn’t for everybody. If you’re high-maintenance, if you
can’t live without your hair dryer, or if you hate kids, then you
probably couldn’t hang. But if you love nature, if you love kids,
if you love people, then do UniCamp. If you’re ready to test
yourself and see what you’re really made of, then do UniCamp.
The head counselors, head counselor assistants and WALL advisors
are some of the most amazing people on this campus. So if you do
camp, know that you’ll be in the best of hands. Winter Woodseyland,
recruitment weekend, is Feb. 1-2. The office phone number is
206-CAMP.
I wasn’t able to do camp last year. A part-time job, summer
school, another full-time job and an unfortunate incident last year
made it impossible for me to go. I missed it, too. I’m hoping to go
2-for-5 and squeeze in summer school and my entrance into the real
world with one last dose of UniCamp.
All I know is that each time I come back from the mountains, I
come back a different person, a better person. I wish I would’ve
started sooner and recommend it to anyone who’s never gone.
Recruitment weekend isn’t a commitment to UniCamp. It’s a bunch of
college students acting like little kids and playing in the snow.
It’s fun.
"But it’s 100 hours of training!" you say. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Two
hours a week and a couple of weekends in the mountains. UniCamp
made me realize that the more you give, the more you receive. The
further you stretch your limits, the more you can accomplish. The
more you let yourself grow and be influenced by others, the better
person you’ll be.
But enough of this cheeseball crap. You’re probably sick of my
mushiness. Don’t think we’re philosophical all the time; that’s
just me.
Ask anyone you see in one of those sweatshirts with the little
trees on them. Ask them why they do UniCamp. Ask them why they keep
coming back. All I can say is, "UniCamp ROCKS!"
Mimi Guzman
UniCampers return from camping out at night.