A week away from home every summer, Sophie Limongelli is known as “Fiesta,” the camp counselor that brings the campers joy and memories they’ll never forget. Camp Fox is a sleep away camp that provides youths and teens with a variety of fun, leadership and team-bonding activities on land and sea. The camp is located on Catalina Island, Camp Fox. All of Camp Fox’s camp counselors are volunteer high school and college students and young adults. While many may dismiss the opportunity of becoming a counselor since it is unpaid, Limongelli said she had always dreamt of becoming one during her ten years of being a camper.
“I wanted to make an impact on the kids, sharing the magic I felt as a camper, and being engaged in each moment,” Limongelli said.
Even though, as a camp counselor Limongelli never has any free time since she is constantly supervising a dozen eight-year-olds through their own camp experiences, she says it has taught her more about herself than she could have ever thought.
“Obviously we don’t know the kids before camp starts and something different happens everyday so we kind of just need to be prepared for anything,” Limongelli said.
Limongelli says “the environment of being a leader for the young campers has provided me with a renewed sense of clarity for what I want out of life. It has given me the ability to be completely present in the moment without dwelling on the past or stressing about the future.”
“I babysit pretty frequently and I feel like it has given me good experience with navigating situations with children and having confidence within myself that I can problem solve while handling issues which is a huge part of Camp Fox,” Limongelli said. Limongelli stated that Camp Fox is an extraordinarily encouraging environment for developing individuals especially at the campfire where the campers and counselors are known to perform funny skits with the evening always ending with an inspirational talk.
“There was one talk where they read the book “Oh the Places You’ll Go” and for some reason it just stuck with me so much. It was this 40-year old director reading everyone a children’s book and at first you may think it’s silly but if you actually listened in, it was very insightful,” recalled Limongelli.
“I’m not one to remember quotes from books or anything but I remember everything he said because it was a really transformative experience,” Limongelli said. “My memory of this book proves to me how impactful this camp can be for other campers.”
Camp Fox is a very special community, especially amongst the counselors. “We even hang out outside the camp environment. We always do an end of summer party and we are having a camp friendsgiving. It is just a very supportive environment”. Limongelli’s experience shows that while being different ages, sharing a common interest of mentoring the youth can bring so many people together. The community is also strong within the relationships between the campers and counselors. “I came back as a counselor after being a Counselor-in-Training (CIT) the previous year, and the girls I had who were in my CIT group were so happy to see me”.
Limongelli’s work as a camp counselor highlights the inspiration she brings to our community through her passion of guiding youth through life shaping experiences.
“We all have a passion for shaping the youth and it is just kind of cool to know that you’ve had an impact,” said Limongelli.
