Anastassia has been part of the camp since she was 11. After returning year after year she joined Bellnor Summer Camp Team and now is the Head Supervisor/Counsellor and Directors Assistant during the camp but also plays a big role when it comes to organising the camp.
Your best memory of the camp?
Difficult to choose just one since the camp became an annual thing for me. My best memory as a child at the camp was probably my first year there. I was 11 and extremely shy. My parents told me a few months before the camp that I would be going there for a whole month (back in the day Bellnor Camp was 4 weeks). I probably cried every day or every other day because of how petrified I was of not having my friends with me. I was very lucky that for some reason I had to be there a day earlier(so before all the other kids arrived) and so did one other girl who was 16 at that time. For one night we had to share a room and she was very friendly and nice to me which helped me to ease into the camp life because that situation just showed me that it is not that scary to make new friends and most people are actually really nice.
At the end, the camp passed super quickly and I had fun. That experience really helped to gain confidence as I child, there was still a lot of work I had to do but it was a very good first step. So for all the kids that are scared to go to their first camp or go to a camp without your friends, dont be. You’ll make friends and you’ll have fun.
As a supervisor my favourite memories are when the whole camp does something together. Great example would be our little dance sessions when after the Fashion Show or any other show we put music on everyone just dances an hangs out together. Those moments are very precious .
What did you learn/take away from the camp?
Confidence and acceptance of others.
Why did I come back year after year?
It’s fun. You get to do different fun activities with new friends that you won’t do at home by yourself. Also I liked the lessons. In school English lessons were very boring and you do kind of the same exercises in all language lessons but at the camp we had so many different things we did during the lessons and we covered so many different topics that I wanted to participate. I had a group of friends from the camp and this was the place were we would meet up every year since were from different places.
Your expectation vs reality in terms of the lessons?
I thought they will be like in school but they were not. Teachers paid attention to each students, chatted with everyone, were hanging out with us during the day. My friends, that I met at the camp, and I still remember the song that we were singing when we were like 12/13 and now we’re almost 30.
Would you recommend to come to Bellnor Summer Camp as a participant?
For sure. It’s a very unique experience that you will cherish but you do need to have good attitude because if you’ll just not participate in any activities, will not try to make friends and just complain about everything then you’re not going to enjoy it. That’s how it works with everything in life.
What would be your advice to someone coming to teach at the camp?
Be open minded, have some ideas of what you would like to do during lessons and maybe some activity during our afternoon workshops. Also remember that the lessons do need to be informative and the kids need to improve their skills but they also need to be interested and enjoying the process.
If you have any questions then you can reach me on instagram
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