Happy Camper

Joliet Junior College offers a summer culinary camp for high school students.

“It’s a really special part of our summer program,” said JJC spokesperson Brenda Large. “We have done this for three years in a row now. ... A couple of our high school students are already on culinary teams. It’s a great start if they have a culinary interest, and it’s great for their college resume.”

Christine Zielinski, of the University of St. Francis, said as of now, USF does offer one summer program for its new students, which is designed to educate them on what they should expect from the college experience on campus. She said college camps in general are great ways to get to know universities and to widen their horizons.

“The more experience a student has,” she said, “that will help them in their learning and in their ability to present themselves verbally and in writing.”

The colleges Genevieve chose were all quite different from each other. Her first one was Northwestern University, which she still loves today. The campus was beautiful, and there was a lot to do in Evanston. She does admit that her parents had to do a certain amount of “encouragement” to get her to sign up for that first camp, which lasted for two weeks the summer before her freshman year.

“I was not looking forward to going to summer school,” she said with a smile. “But I just loved it. It was the best experience ever.”

With only six in her literary analysis class, the students and teacher often met in a lounge, where they relaxed on sofas, reading their assignments on laptops, then discussing their readings. It was challenging, she said, but very interesting.

“It was intense and hard,” she explained, “but it wasn’t boring. I really enjoyed it. The best part was meeting all the different types of people I hadn’t been exposed to before at Nettle Creek.”

After that summer, Genevieve didn’t have to have her arm twisted to attend more camps. The next year, she went to Culver Academy in Indiana on the recommendation of a friend of the family, this time for six weeks. It was a military-style school, and she had to wear a uniform, march to and from classes and get room inspections.

It was not a style she thought she would get used to, especially the first day when she had to cut off her tied bracelets, but she not only got used to the ways there, she found she loved the program.

She had an interesting Austrian roommate, took creative writing, sailing, scuba, competitive swimming, tennis and speech, and made close friendships with a young woman from France and a young man from Guatemala.

“I loved this one so much,” she said of the Culver camp. “It was fun, and it gave me a lot of people skills.”

Genevieve said the experience opened her eyes to the commonality of people who might come from all corners of the globe. They look different and are from different cultures, she said, but they had the same interests and loved to do things with each other.

A third summer camp was again at Northwestern University, where she took advanced creative writing. Classes were until 3 p.m., then they would all go to the beach or shopping or exploring Chicago. The teachers were college professors, she said, and she learned a great deal about different styles of teaching and learning. There were no lectures in these classes, she said, there were assignments and group discussions and critiques.

Her camp last summer was at UIC, where she learned about poverty and social justice and took field trips to area homeless shelters, women’s support organizations, an urban garden and a lot more. It was an eye-opening adventure for the Morris girl.

“We got an up close look at poverty and what it does to people,” she said. “Hearing the stories first-hand made it more realistic.”

She remembers hearing one man tell his story. It began with an eviction from his home. The landlord then opened up his place and let anyone take whatever they wanted, so then he had nothing. Next, he lost his wallet. Without a home base and an address or phone or identification, the process of looking for work was almost too much for him, and he dove deeper and deeper into poverty.

Genevieve said she is glad she spent a couple weeks each summer in the programs. They have given her a lot more than if she were to have stayed home all summer.

And they are a great learning experience and a way to experience different cultures and meet people. She stays in contact with many of the friends she made during the last four summers.

This summer, Genevieve plans on working and saving up money before college next year and possibly travel a bit with her mother.