Camp Everytown - Social-Emotional Learning

Excerpt from Val, a Camp Everytown alum:

I want to thank Silicon Valley Faces for inviting me here today to share a collection of significant memories that have shaped me into the woman I am today. My memories of Camp Everytown are still near and dear to my heart because I have experienced, first hand, its power to positively impact lives.

Ten years ago, I said farewell to my predominantly Latino neighborhood in East San Jose, California and moved north to the big city by the bay, San Francisco, where I currently live and work as a multi-media storyteller. Behind every smile there’s a secret - and when a child walks around holding one as big as mine - they can feel ALONE, VOICELESS, TRAPPED IN A BOX with no open doors and very little light. As a child who moved frequently, because of my father’s inability to consistently support his family, it was hard to keep and make new friends. Freshmen year at Independence High School, I felt lost amongst a sea of thousands of wandering students.

One morning, a boy turned around and asked me, “Why are you so quiet?” Shocked and offended by his question, I wanted to shout at the top of my lungs, “I have a lot on my mind,” but embarrassed I instead gave an awkward smile, shrugged and didn’t say a word. I grew up defined by a family secret, so much so, I thought if people knew who I was and where I came from, they wouldn’t accept me. But as I grew older I realized my family wasn’t the only one with problems.

In the spring of my Junior year, I was one out of 100 Independence High School students invited to Camp Everytown. In this new environment, nerves first overwhelmed me, but I soon learned to exit my comfort zone and allow others to get to know the real me by sharing my voice.

In one memorable small group discussion, we were asked to make a human sculpture of our family and to describe it. No one had asked about my family life before, so at first I wasn’t sure how much to say. When it was my turn, tears began to fill my eyes as I placed my father in a far corner on the other side of the room. Everyone sat respectfully as they listened to my trembling, novice voice reveal my family’s secret for the first time. I took a deep breath and proceeded to tell a story. Late one night when my father was sleeping, my mother finally built up her courage and told my brothers, sister and I to quickly gather our belongings. Breathless and not looking back, with only the full moon shining on us, we ran away from my father’s paranoid and monstrous behavior. Living with him had been like a nightmare I could never wake up from. After my story, with every hug I received, I felt so thankful that Camp Everytown gave me a place to speak honestly and openly about my personal family experiences. Surrounded by people I no longer saw as strangers, but as new friends I trusted, I began to feel safe and accepted. I no longer felt alone or isolated from my classmates; Camp Everytown taught me that everyone has hardships and has equally powerful stories to share.

In a short amount of time, Camp Everytown became a place where empathy melted judgment and unfamiliar faces became family. On our last day, we stood shoulder to shoulder in a circle of diversity, but in the end, all we saw was commonality. We were all human, united by our shared experiences and by our new desire to make the world a better place one step at a time.

Camp Everytown was a life changing, transformative experience that ignited a spark inside me. Since it taught me how to be aware of myself and of the bigger world around me, I returned home inspired to make change. The following school year, I became a Camp Everytown Club officer and returned to camp to help spread awareness of respect, acceptance and appreciation of diversity across my high school campus. Later, I grew committed to understanding and helping different cultures internationally. After I studied media production at the University of San Francisco, a school with a strong social justice mission, I volunteered with the Peace Corps in Macedonia to exchange cultures and to teach 4^th-8^th grade students how to communicate in the English language with confidence. And soon, I’m off to earn a master’s degree in International Education at NYU, with plans to design children’s arts programs that bridge cultures through storytelling. From the lessons learned at Camp Everytown, I strive to capture beauty in diverse cultures, be a voice for social justice and work with non-profits that help empower women and children all over the world.

I believe that Camp Everytown’s message will ripple effect and gradually reach the rest of our global society to create harmony. The more we take the time to understand the diverse cultures around us, the more we work together towards a peaceful, sustainable community. I was an emotionally wounded child terrified to share my voice, but Camp Everytown showed me light for a brighter future outside of my box. Thank you Camp Everytown.