Growing up at Camp
The following post is by CIC Camper Haley Kern, who has lived at Howlands Landing (home of Catalina Island Camps) since 1996 when her dad took the job as Site Manager.
Haley is in the yellow shirt
My name’s Haley, I'm fifteen years old, and I've been living on Catalina for as long as I can remember. I live with my mom, my dad, and my two younger siblings. We live here at Howlands landing. A lot of people may think that sounds fun, and a great place for a kid to grow up. Now don't get me wrong, I love it here, but it definitely has its ups and downs.
These photos are of Haley's CILT group from 2008
I'm a sophomore at Avalon High School. The school is kindergarten through twelfth grade; unfortunately, my school is nearly two hours away. But, just like most kids that live down here at this side of the island, my sister and I take the school bus. We leave our house at 5:50 a.m. Our mom drives us as far as the Isthmus of the Island. There, we catch the bus at about 6:15 a.m. The bus has nine kids from this side of the island. All of us are friends, we do get nearly 4 hours a day of travel together, and therefore, we're pretty close. We finally get to school at about 7:30 am. After we get there, we still have time to just hang out or get help with school work. School doesn't even start until eight so we have time to spare. It’s pretty nice though being able to go to school in town because we live in the hills. As the normal school day drags on, it finally ends at three. The bus doesn’t leave until 3:30 so we still have loads of time to just lie around or go for a walk around campus before the long bus ride. When the bus takes us home we spend the ride talking, reading, or listening to our iPods. We finally get home at 5:15 pm. And that's pretty much our normal weekday.
Every summer I am blessed to attend summer camp for two weeks, here at the camp I live at. It's so much fun being able to meet so many people from around the country, even from around the world. A lot of the staff here are international, so I get to meet people from all over. Just last summer, I was a CILT (camper in leadership training). It was the best CIC session I’ve ever been in.
Living at a camp is fun, I admit, but it gets pretty boring sometimes. I mean in the winter, the water is freezing, and so you can’t really do any activities that involve the ocean. It doesn't even start to warm up until summer. And all my friends live in Avalon, so unless I want to spend the weekend there; I only get to see them at school during the week. It really does get annoying living in the middle of nowhere. I mean, imagine being stuck here, with the nearest kid my age living two hours away, with no cell service!
Of course, living at Howlands landing isn't all bad. I live on the beach. I get to go to the best summer camp I’ve ever been to, every year. And, I get to hang out with a great group of staff during the summer. I absolutely love it… but it is kind of weird when I go to camp because I can see my house from my cabin. All the friends I go to camp with thinks it’s so cool that I live here, and I agree with them. Living here has been a great experience that I will always treasure.
My name’s Haley, I'm fifteen years old, and I've been living on Catalina for as long as I can remember. I live with my mom, my dad, and my two younger siblings. We live here at Howlands landing. A lot of people may think that sounds fun, and a great place for a kid to grow up. Now don't get me wrong, I love it here, but it definitely has its ups and downs.
I'm a sophomore at Avalon High School. The school is kindergarten through twelfth grade; unfortunately, my school is nearly two hours away. But, just like most kids that live down here at this side of the island, my sister and I take the school bus. We leave our house at 5:50 a.m. Our mom drives us as far as the Isthmus of the Island. There, we catch the bus at about 6:15 a.m. The bus has nine kids from this side of the island. All of us are friends, we do get nearly 4 hours a day of travel together, and therefore, we're pretty close. We finally get to school at about 7:30 am. After we get there, we still have time to just hang out or get help with school work. School doesn't even start until eight so we have time to spare. It’s pretty nice though being able to go to school in town because we live in the hills. As the normal school day drags on, it finally ends at three. The bus doesn’t leave until 3:30 so we still have loads of time to just lie around or go for a walk around campus before the long bus ride. When the bus takes us home we spend the ride talking, reading, or listening to our iPods. We finally get home at 5:15 pm. And that's pretty much our normal weekday.
Every summer I am blessed to attend summer camp for two weeks, here at the camp I live at. It's so much fun being able to meet so many people from around the country, even from around the world. A lot of the staff here are international, so I get to meet people from all over. Just last summer, I was a CILT (camper in leadership training). It was the best CIC session I’ve ever been in.
Living at a camp is fun, I admit, but it gets pretty boring sometimes. I mean in the winter, the water is freezing, and so you can’t really do any activities that involve the ocean. It doesn't even start to warm up until summer. And all my friends live in Avalon, so unless I want to spend the weekend there; I only get to see them at school during the week. It really does get annoying living in the middle of nowhere. I mean, imagine being stuck here, with the nearest kid my age living two hours away, with no cell service!
Of course, living at Howlands landing isn't all bad. I live on the beach. I get to go to the best summer camp I’ve ever been to, every year. And, I get to hang out with a great group of staff during the summer. I absolutely love it… but it is kind of weird when I go to camp because I can see my house from my cabin. All the friends I go to camp with thinks it’s so cool that I live here, and I agree with them. Living here has been a great experience that I will always treasure.
posted by Tom Horner at
8:11 AM
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