Maybe Parents Really Do Know Best

My journey at Camp Huawni began in 2003. I had no desire to go to camp – it was one of those arguments with my mom that I knew I wasn’t going to win. The only “camp” I attended growing up were soccer camps – nothing like actual Summer camp. Needless to say, I was nervous, intimidated and pouted the entire 3 hour drive there. By the time we checked in, found my cabin and made my bed I was ready for my parents to leave – I had to maintain my image (obviously).

Asking Hard Questions

When I came on staff in the Summer of 2012 I had no idea that almost 6 years later I’d be in the spot that I am currently. Coming onto staff the Summer before my freshman year in college was formative to say the least. It was the first Summer that the CIT Program was changing. To this day, I’ve never cleaned more toilets, showers, coffee mugs and dishes in my life than I did that Summer. I was challenged, asked hard questions and was encouraged to take a step back and look at my life from a 40,000-ft. view. That was the first time I was asked “Who are you and what are you doing here?” and for someone who talks a lot, I didn’t have much to say. I truly had no idea. A humbling experience to say the least.

Over the next few years I wrestled with that question. I couldn’t really pin point specific things that made me unique or what I was really good at. I found myself jumping from thing to thing grasping for whatever made sense in that season of my life. Nothing ever seemed consistent.
However, something that continued to be a constant in my life and seemed to be an environment that I thrived in was the camp setting. For whatever reason, while Camp was HARD (because it totally is) and exhausting (also true), it gave me energy and excited me.

Piecing It Together

I didn’t really get it until after I graduated college and was working for a Digital Marketing agency in Dallas. I was DRAINED every single day leaving work – I wasn’t flourishing in the environment I was in. So naturally, after a long (I mean, long) conversation with my parents I went back to camp for the Summer. Despite what the logical part of my brain was telling me.

I wholeheartedly believe that my parents sending me to Camp was one of the best things they could have done for me developmentally. They plucked me out of my “norm” despite my push back and put me in an environment where I grew, developed, was challenged and learned more about myself than I could’ve ever imagined. So, shout out to my incredible parents for that one.

Hard Questions Answered

My last year on the Huawni Summer staff was 2016. Fast forward a year and a half later, I’m right back to where I started almost 14ish years ago (as the Women’s Director…what?), only this time I’m confident in who I am, how I was designed and how to walk in that (sometimes). I believe that Huawni among other things played a crucial role in helping me answer those hard questions.

Camp celebrates people well, creates an environment that encourages campers and staff to come as they are and cultivates long lasting relationships. And the hope is that in the midst of all these things people discover who they are and who they were created to be.

_ - Alex Perez, Women’s Director _