Cerji Colvin has been a CalEx volunteer since 2015, and is a bugle extraordinaire! Thank you Cerji for sharing your story with us and for all that you bring to Experience Camps!
“My parents were killed in a car accident when I was five, and back then no one talked about how kids experience grief. I felt alone, and didn’t want to feel different from everyone else my age, so I didn’t talk about it.
I went to summer camp from fifth grade through the summer after my first year of college. I loved camp (and still do), and was so happy to have the opportunity to go. When I found out there was such a thing as grief camp, I thought it was such an amazing combination – a really fun place where grieving kids can have a great time, make new friends, and learn that they’re not alone.
Volunteering at Experience Camps has become a part of who I am, and I’m proud of the years I’ve spent getting to know campers who’ve benefited from their time at camp. I’m so grateful to have the chance to help support these campers in ways that weren’t available to me when I was younger.
I’m happy to play the bugle calls at camp, and I think the campers appreciate it as well. Sometimes I think they like it even more when I make mistakes! I also love teaching archery at camp. It means a lot to me when the campers are able to have fun learning to do something I’m passionate about in my own life.
California Experience connects so many people – campers and counselors – in so many ways. It really is the #bestweekever!”
