By: Sean Wilk

This summer, Camp Savio is going to be an opportunity for not only I but my fellow counselors as well, to grow both individuals and in our faith. This is my first summer doing Camp Savio, and already, I have seen many qualities from other counselors that I wish to gain over the rest of the summer. I have seen other counselors show their patience, their passion and enthusiasm, and their kindness, and I know that all counselors can learn from each other to become a better version of themselves. The Liturgy grade is always especially enthusiastic and brings others in on their enthusiasm with their chants of “Liturgy! Liturgy!”, making all of Camp Savio feel involved. These traits that others show and exhibit are the way that they provide campers with such a great summer and help themselves grow in character and faith.

Through our service with the children, Camp Savio will provide an opportunity for many counselors to become more like the religious figures we look up to and believe in. St. John Bosco believed in helping young children, and to do so, formed the Oratory, a home, school, Church, and playground, and through Camp Savio, we will provide all of these to the children. Like St. John Bosco, we will bring out the excellence in each child, and through helping them, we will help ourselves.  Along with John Bosco, Jesus himself loved children and would spend time with them and bless them. He believed that they deserved kindness, and that because of their innocence, they would enter Heaven before all others. When we treat children in the ways that Jesus and St. John Bosco did, giving them our time, love, and kindness, we are able to become more faithful and faith-filled.

Our service to the kids will provide us an opportunity to form bonds and make memories that will last for years to come. Serving together is a great way to form strong and fast friendships among the counselors and seeing the happiness in the kids’ face will be the reward for serving. Already, I have made new friends at Camp Savio that I would have not met otherwise, and that is definitely one of my favorite parts of serving so far. I and other counselors will be able to fondly look back on what we did for the children, and in return, what they did for us.