{"id":13643,"date":"2020-03-19T10:14:00","date_gmt":"2020-03-19T14:14:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.massaudubon.org\/yourgreatoutdoors\/?p=13643"},"modified":"2020-03-06T14:25:47","modified_gmt":"2020-03-06T19:25:47","slug":"in-your-words-nina-swett","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.massaudubon.org\/yourgreatoutdoors\/in-your-words-nina-swett\/","title":{"rendered":"In Your Words: Nina Swett"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In Your Words is a regular feature of Mass Audubon\u2019s\u00a0Explore<\/a>\u00a0member newsletter. Each issue, a Mass Audubon member, volunteer, staff member, or supporter shares his or her story\u2014why Mass Audubon and protecting the nature of Massachusetts matters to them. In the Spring 2020 issue, we interviewed three counselors from Mass Audubon’s Wildwood Camp<\/a>. You can also read Dustin<\/a> and Jackson’s<\/a> stories. If you have a story to share about your connection to Mass Audubon, email explore@massaudubon.org<\/a>\u00a0to be considered for In Your Words in a future issue!\u00a0<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Nina
Nina Swett leading a group of campers during a Camp Olympics activity<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Since my parents met as campers there, it was always a foregone conclusion that I would attend Wildwood for overnight camp as well. As soon as I was of age, I started spending part of every summer at Wildwood, eventually working my way up through the Leaders-in-Training and Junior Counselors programs and finally becoming a counselor myself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My clearest memory from my childhood years at Wildwood was\ntaking a walk down First Point Trail, learning about vernal pools from staff naturalist\nJohnathon Benson. It was so amazing to me that all these frogs and salamanders\nwere completely dependent on these small, temporary pools to survive and\nprocreate. Wildwood definitely instilled a fascination and love of nature in\nme. I remember being a Leader-in-Training (LIT) and asking for special\npermission to get up at 3:00 am to watch the Perseid meteor shower from the\nactivity field. We laid in the grass and counted shooting stars and talked for\nhours\u2014that was a really special memory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like most kids, I had a few mixed experiences as a camper,\nwhich is a natural part of the growing process. A few really great counselors\nhelped me through the challenging times and made me feel like I mattered. Now,\nas a counselor myself, I want to be that person for other kids, and the culture\nat Wildwood fosters that kind of supportive environment. Wildwood is a kind of\nsafe space where kids are encouraged to be themselves, to drop the \u201cfalse\npersonas\u201d they may be holding at home or in school, and even to try out new\nways of expressing or defining themselves as they figure out who they really\nare and want to be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now that I\u2019m in college, I want to become a science teacher\nso I can impart the lessons that Wildwood has taught me and use the skills I\u2019ve\nlearned there. Even now, I find myself using my \u201ccounselor voice\u201d to make sure\nmy friends are staying hydrated and rested through finals!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Nina
Nina Swett (bottom right) enjoying some downtime with fellow counselors<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s hard to communicate the power of camp to my \u201cnon-camp\u201d\nfriends and family. The skills I have developed through my years and\nexperiences at camp\u2014how to connect with kids, how to be patient, how to love\nnature, how to love yourself, how to appreciate what you have and what\u2019s really\nimportant in life\u2014most people outside the camp world don\u2019t really \u201cget it.\u201d\nThere\u2019s something about going into the woods for a few weeks with no internet\nor cell phone that does something really profound to you. It\u2019s being in a place\nyou love with people you love. It\u2019s so important. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every day that I\u2019m alive, I\u2019m so glad that I went to and continue to be a part of Wildwood. It has given me the best friends I\u2019ve ever had\u2014and ever will have\u2014for the rest of my life. I don\u2019t know who I would be without it. In a literal sense, I wouldn\u2019t be here without Wildwood; in a figurative sense, I wouldn\u2019t be the person I am now, and for that, I am so thankful. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Nina Swett is a first-year student at Mount Holyoke College, where they hope to pursue a career path toward becoming a teacher. They will return this summer for their 14th year at Wildwood and third as a counselor.<\/em> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In Your Words is a regular feature of Mass Audubon\u2019s\u00a0Explore\u00a0member newsletter. Each issue, a Mass Audubon member, volunteer, staff member, or supporter shares his or her story\u2014why Mass Audubon and protecting the nature of Massachusetts matters to them. In the Spring 2020 issue, we interviewed three counselors from Mass Audubon’s Wildwood Camp. You can also […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":68,"featured_media":13651,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[174],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13643","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-in-your-words"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blogs.massaudubon.org\/yourgreatoutdoors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2020\/03\/Nina-and-Jackson-1.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3t87A-3y3","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":11315,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.massaudubon.org\/yourgreatoutdoors\/in-your-words-melanie-garate\/","url_meta":{"origin":13643,"position":0},"title":"In Your Words: Melanie G\u00e1rate","author":"Ryan D.","date":"June 27, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"In Your Words is a regular feature of Mass Audubon\u2019s\u00a0Explore\u00a0member newsletter. Each issue, a Mass Audubon member, volunteer, staff member, or supporter shares his or her story\u2014why Mass Audubon and protecting the nature of Massachusetts matters to them. 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