Jared London: Little Moments, Big
Impact
Hey everyone! I am Jared, Camp Chi’s
new Program Coordinator. I grew up in the North Shore attending Camp Chi every
summer since 2007. This upcoming summer will be my 15th spent at my
home away from home. I could not be happier to work my dream job at Camp and to
continue working with the Chicago Jewish Community! I have known this is what I
wanted to do for most of my life, and I am excited to share with you the story
of the moment that started this dream.
Back
in 2010 I was heading to my fourth summer away at camp as an incoming 7th
grader. I had spent the previous three summers enjoying every single second of
camp, but for some reason my fourth summer did not start off the way I had
expected. I was terribly homesick. To this day I could not tell you why I was
homesick, but that feeling was completely dominating my camp experience for the
first few days. One night towards the end of the first week I told my counselor
Jake that I wanted to go home. He did not say very much, and I went to sleep.
At some point after I had fallen asleep Jake woke me up, and the only words he
said to me were “grab your pillow and blanket…” I followed him out to the
porch, and we continued walking to a place in camp called the commons. During
the day the commons don’t look like much, it’s really just a slab of concrete
towards the back of camp, there are a couple basketball hoops, a gaga pit, but
this slab of concrete is now my favorite place in the world because of what
happens next. Jake laid his pillow and blanket down and I did the same. He did
not try to convince me to stay at camp, he just told me to look up at the stars.
I looked up and was genuinely taken back by how incredible the night sky
looked. The commons which are fairly underwhelming during the day, became the
most amazing place at night. The treetops create a perfect circle with a crystal-clear
night sky in the middle. We sat there for a while and stargazed, Jake pointed
out a perfect view of the big dipper and then played the song Hallelujah (Rufus
Wainwright Version) on his speaker. I even saw a shooting star. We got up, went
back to the cabin and I went back to sleep. That next morning, I woke up and on
my pillow was one of the bandanas Jake wore almost daily. He tied it on my head
and gave me a fist bump. I was never homesick again. Jake took 20 or 30 minutes
out of his night to change my life forever. The commons became my favorite
place, stargazing my favorite activity, I wear a bandanna every day at camp, and
I still listen to hallelujah every night before I go to sleep. I am convinced
that without that night, I would not be where I am today. From that point
forward, I never wanted to spend another summer not at Camp Chi. I went on to
be counselor, unit head, and now a member of the full-time team as
Program Coordinator.
I think this is a great story given
our current climate. You never know when someone is going through a rough
patch, and a small (or big) act of kindness can have such a huge impact. I am
so excited to be in a position where I have the opportunity to make a positive
impact on my camp and the greater Jewish Community.
Jared London is the Program
Coordinator at JCC Camp Chi. He also runs Chi Town Connection (CTC) JCC Chicago
and Camp Chi’s year-round program for teens in 8th-11th
grade. He is extremely passionate about Camp and Teen Programming and the
impact they can have.