The Final Post

Today we wrapped up much of our learning here with the RYLA Olympics (although we know the learning doesn't stop once we leave). We applied what we learned and saw how far it was able to take us. We'll be fully capping off the experience tonight with our campfire and tomorrow with our wrap-up presentation.

Although everyone's Camp RYLA experience is unique and special, we all have grown in many ways. Some people feel as if they have become more confident and sociable while other have learned how to ensure that all cabin members are included. One thing is for sure, the friendships and memories we have made will last a lifetime. We can truly attest that Camp RYLA has changed us into improved individuals and leaders. We have become better at working in large groups and communicating. A key concept that has been eye opening was eading from behind. This form of leadership was a great lesson for several campers that taught to lead you don't have to have the loudest voice, yet you can lead through encouraging others to step out of their comfort zones. The campers will be returning home tomorrow and it is safe to expect that your camper will sleep for at least 24 hours. We are sad to leave our new friends, but excited to take back the skills we learned at camp into our daily lives.

CAMP RYLA! REACH FOR THE FUTURE!

Thank for the amazing blog audience, we appreciate your time and support.

- Monroe McCracken, Cristobal Garcia, Kishan Kara

Top 5 Memories (so far...)

Camp RYLA has continued to give campers so many great experiences throughout the week. In fact, some campers can hardly keep track. No need to fear the blog is here to countdown the top 5 moments of camp so far:

1) Troy Stende's Keynote Presentation: Troy's presentation was about the power of words. Words can have an immense impact on the performance of every person, despite what some might believe. The highlight of Troy's presentation however was breaking our "barriers." During this portion of the presentation, campers received a piece of wood which was later used to represent a barrier. Campers were taught how to break the board and to many campers' delight all campers broke their boards with some even shedding a few tears of joy.


2) The Team Challenge Course - The team challenge course was an obstacle course meant to encourage cooperation among all o the participants. The campers all enjoyed crossing obstacles with the help of their cabin. One of the obstacles was the spider web, which had to be crossed with very specific instructions. On the other side of the spectrum was the log which had to be crossed without touching the ground. Overall the event was one of the most fun in the camp.

3) Ragball - The ragball game one of the first team building exercises that all campers did. it was a game involving partners chosen amongst the cabin members being tied together by the hand when they were in the outfield. The other aspect was that campers were made to run towards bases while they were linked with their arms as pairs. The game really got campers working together and set the stage for what was to come for the camp.

4) Round Robins - The Round Robins were the first activities done by the cabin groups. Cabin groups had just been introduced to each other, so many were not immediately ready to work with one another. The puzzles were heavily teamwork dependent, and with hesitant teams this made for quite the challenge to campers. Overall these activities helped cabins not only get to know each other but to also find their flaws when doing teamwork.

5) Facilitators - The facilitators are all members of staff that given keynote presentations regarding aspects of leadership. Among the staff were the names Kevin "Scooter" Ward, Troy Stende, Barron Ryan, Lauren Marold, Megan Hanna, Becca Egger, Jay Greenstein, and upcoming Mendhi Audin. The topics included things such as grit, the importance of hard work, and teamwork. These facilitators all helped campers gain insight into the many aspects of leadership and how to improve on them helping campers become better leaders for the future.

The RYLA Inquisitor: Issue 3

Here is the 3rd issue of the RYLA Inquisitor so you all can read more about what we were up to yesterday! We hope you are all living vicariously through us & enjoying our content!

Finding Yourself

Throughout life you may question yourself, "Who am I?" "What am I going to do with my life?" "How am I going to do it?" The answers to these questions won't come easy and it may take a long time to answers these questions. Campers began to explore these questions with an activity that explored personality types. On the first day of camp, a survey was passed out which contained questions regarding characteristics campers most identify with. Using this quiz, campers were assigned one of four animals. Each animal represented a different group of characteristics unique to personality types. The koala represented the group of campers that were most inclusive. Lions represented the group that was most decisive. The peacocks were the group that were the most creative. Owls were the group that were the most analytical. However campers were assured that no one person is truly just one animal. Most are a conglomerate of different animals. Campers were given an animal that represents their most dominant characteristics. This allowed cabins to identify the diverse personnel within each cabin. Using this knowledge campers were better able to understand their cabin mates and how to cooperate with them. The cabins all made arrangements to which everyone in that cabin would adhere to. With a quick lunch campers were then presented with a show which punished those who were irresponsible and congratulated who were the most responsible. Team building exercises continued with a game of Ragball and obstacle courses.

Ragball was a fun way to play RYLA version of baseball which created new challenged and opportunities for groups bonding. Special rules were made to make the campers have to rely on one another. One if the rules was as that a pair in the outfield had to have their hands tied together which made for some really limited movement. Arms had to be linked together when running shoes towards bases making the campers rely on each other. Teams were also made to cheer for each other to try their best.

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The obstacle course was a very fun activity that really got all the campers moving. The campers had to go through many challenges that not only required teamwork but also energy. There were many unique obstacles such as walking across a log, rolling a barrel, jumping over a pit and other activities.

The scavenger hunt create a situation where campers had to trust and depend on each other to find each of the items. This activity also included a fun, creative aspect for groups who tried to pass objectives off as creative versions of the actual requested item. The scavenger hunt was one of many great opportunities to work together, another being the Egg Drop. The Egg Drop challenged campers to create a safe spaceship for their specially named eggs blasting off into space. The spaceships had to be made solely of stares and tape with the collaboration of all members. Once production was finished, the true drop test challenged the structures of each cabin shuttle. The highly recognized astronauts Spencer tested every single shuttle and unfortunately even cabin faced failure. Despite this,  the true experience lied in supporting each other through every situation and taking time to identify what highs and lows each group had.

Overall the day has been extremely busy with so many activities being done all over the place. Many of the campers are sure to be tired as the night approaches. Campers will have to get a good sleep in order to prepare for the activities that will inevitably come.

RYLA Day Two: Read all about it

We have been running around like crazy from activity to activity & having so much fun along the way. Tonight, we're going to reflect and try to capture it all here.

Until then wanted to send you access to our second newspaper at camp. Read all about our days here (how many days has it been? feels like forever!!!) directly from some of our awesome cabinmates!!!

The Start of the RYLA Experience

Camp RYLA has officially begun and is off to an energetic start. It has only been about twenty-four hours since campers first arrived, yet the yawning and fatigue has already set in. Right away the campers were met with excited cheers as they were pulled out of their cars to enter camp. Moving through the camp students were dropped off at their respective cabins where they received tours of the cabin. But just because this was the first day of camp, they didn’t waste a moment. Campers met their Counselors and other cabin members creating team names. Towards the end of the day campers received the orientation as well as a guest speaker before heading to bed.

The first morning began with Calisthenics at 6:45 AM which for many of the campers was something very unique and energizing to prepare them for the long day ahead. It was a great way to start the day off and encourage competitive cabin spirit with the performances of Cabin chants. With everyone jolted awake campers were sent prepare for the rest of the day, starting with the flag ceremony. Campers had a quick breakfast and then began the fast-paced activities known as the Round Robins. Moving between activities quickly, campers endured many puzzles meant to encourage teamwork and increase fatigue. The different stations had problems that needed to be solved by the cabins using teamwork and communication skills.

Campers at one of many Round Robin activities - the Human Knot

The day continued with a lunch and an amazing experience with special speaker Troy Stende. Troy helped campers identify the power of spoken word and its impacts on individuals. Furthermore, the campers were able to break barriers in their lives as well as a physical wooden board. The board was able to symbolize a unique struggle to each individual camper and how they wished to overcome this obstacle. Campers shared an emotional connection in that moment seeing their friends take large steps to breaking their barriers. The atmosphere was electric and unifying bringing the campers closer than ever before.

Campers were able to finish of the night with an amazing performance by piano prodigy, Baron Ryan. Baron hammered in the points that success doesn’t come without struggle, that greatness is not about what you do but about who you are, and when times are tough don’t think big, think small. Wrapping up the presentation campers went to work with their committees on their daily tasks. Every night is finished with a meaningful and reflective discussion amongst cabin members. Campers are tired yet excited for what is to come.

Welcome to Camp RYLA!

We are happy to share that we have all arrived, made it to our cabins and have already begun the learning and bonding. We hope this blog will keep you up to date on all the things we do and learn this week. Sure to be a lot! Our committee will be responsible for all our social media & keeping you in the know. Let us know if you like what we are sharing or if we should add anything else.

To start off, we want to share a link with you to the first newspaper of the week that was put together by the staff. It will help show what we should expect from this life changing week. We hope you enjoy!!

http://www.smore.com/2x1fd-the-ryla-inquisitor

Stay posted for our blog posts (& photos of course)! We will post later today on some of what we have been working on!

Best,

2018 Media Promotions Committee

We Can't Wait!!

Prep Work

The staff has already been busy this morning getting ready for an amazing Camp RYLA 2018. 

All materials are being pulled together for each camper to have a successful week. We are so excited to start off this awesome week and can't wait to welcome the campers today.


A few last minutes reminders:
1. Pack your bag and then double check your bag. 
-Make sure you have everything  you need to insure that you have a great time.
2. If you have any snacks, make sure they are sealed.
-Just to be on the safe side.
3. Lastly, thank your Rotary Clubs as they drop you off.
-These amazing people have volunteered their time to take you to camp. This nice gesture should be appreciated. 

Welcome to the jungle!

-RYLA Alumni

COUNTDOWN! 1 days till Camp RYLA!

Last few words

Hi campers - we are SO excited for you to get here! Seriously, why aren’t you here already? We do like to say at Camp that being on time is late...

Anyways, while y’all get on over here thought we could provide you some “friendly” last minute tips to get you ready for this week! 

1. Don’t try to figure out what exactly is going to happen this week - you won’t be able to. BUT we can promise it will be ahhhmazing

2. Clear your schedule for the next two weeks because you will need a week to recover from the things we put you through (don’t worry parents - we will return them healthy if you don’t count sleep deprivation as a health issue...)

3. Also, clear the memory on your phone because we promise within 24 hours of leaving camp you’ll be in 8373938 new group conversations 

4. Pack using your handy dandy packing list!! Look, i’ve done this 6 times & i still somehow forget things. Don’t be me! 

5. Run through a couple of your girl scout/boy scout survival tricks since you still have NO idea what we’re going to make you do. 

JK you won’t need to fend for yourselves...or will you??

6. Let your current friends know that in a week they will likely be replaced with your new camp BFFs. You want to prepare them to make it easier! 

7. Hibernate for as long as you can... or is it too late for that??

8. If you haven’t worked out in a while it wouldn’t hurt to exercise a bit. Once again, you have no idea what we could put in your way. 

9. SNACKS - buy them, pack them, start eating them! You’ll need the energy!

10. Ok all jokes aside, the most important advice is to clear your mind of everything else, pump yourself up and be ready for the unexpected amazingness that is Camp RYLA! 

Take a moment for yourself.

We CANNOT wait to welcome you to camp.
-RYLA Alumni

COUNTDOWN! 3 days till Camp RYLA!

Memories

As this week comes to an end, RYLA alums will share advice and a memory.

Robert, camper in '06, shares for today.

I was a camper in 2006, and I decided to go to Camp RYLA because I thought it would look good on college applications. I had no idea what to expect. That week at camp can best be described as explosive, and afterward, it made me work even harder to achieve my goals. 

My amazing first experience is what keeps me coming back, year after year, for 10 years. I've been in your shoes. There's going to come a time this week where you feel like you can't give any more and you want to quit, but instead of stopping, hit the wall at 100 miles an hour. You will get out of camp 10 times what you put into it.

We CANNOT wait to welcome you to camp.

-RYLA Alumni

COUNTDOWN! 2 days till Camp RYLA!

Memories

Another memory from Hena Rafiq, 2011,

I cannot believe that it has been 7 years since I was gearing up to head to RYLA as a camper. I hadn’t been to a camp since I was in the 5th grade and I was both eager and anxious about it all. Little did I know that RYLA was going to carry me around for the 7 years (with more to come, of course).

Everyday since I’ve garnered the RYLA spirit that is about to become instinctive to you all shortly. That spirit led me to International RYLA in 2014, to graduate with a human rights degree in 2016 and then to start a youth leadership camp in Kosovo in 2017. 

Camp is what you make of it. Come with no expectations but set ambitious goals for yourself this week & hopefully you’ll see yourself achieve things you could have never even thought of before. We are SO excited to have you and cannot wait to help you through this journey. We know no one has told you what this journey is all about in detail yet but come on, you can survive the mysteriousness for 48 more hours right? Until then, get into the right mindset and get ready for what we all think is the best week of the year!!

See you soon!

We CANNOT wait to welcome you to camp.
-RYLA Alumni

COUNTDOWN! 4 days till Camp RYLA!

8 things you don't understand now, but will very soon:

Camp is a time to learn, stretch your limits, and have some debatably weird experiences, and leave with inside jokes and lingo that will confuse everyone at home. For example:

1.  Ain’t nobody got time for hanky panky...literally. 
2. At RYLA, there’s always somewhere to be, and someday maybe Susie and Sammy will get their acts together and show up on time.
3. Puffy v. scented stickers...which one is more enviable?
4. If you’re prone to losing things, you probably should go ahead and a) stretch and b) brush up on your spelling.
5. Two truths and a lie: Bedtime is strictly enforced. You really might gain a little weight while at camp. It could get hot outside.
6. Silly hats and silly socks aren’t so silly when the cup is on the line.
7. Where does your Bonnie lie? And how tired are your legs?
8. Strong female leads in mid-century television serve the best ice cream.

Can’t wait to meet y’all. Let’s reach for the future!

Becca Egger, Camper ‘04

-RYLA Alumni

COUNTDOWN! 5 days till Camp RYLA!

What you SHOULD to bring to camp:

1. Hygiene products

-You are sharing a cabin with about 10 other campers, an assistant counselor and a counselor. Don't forget the little things that will make everyone more comfortable.
-Toothpaste, Deodorant, Febreze, etc.

2. Clean underthings and overthings.

-This is an active camp. Your overthings can get gross (think: sun and heat) and you want to make sure that you have enough underthings to keep yourself comfortable. Underthings are the only types of clothing that you could never overpack on.
-Keep in mind that we'll be outside a lot. Make sure that you have enough shorts and socks for the week (shoot for two pairs of socks a day).

3. Disposable Camera (no cell phones allowed)

-I know, what is this ancient thing. Trust me, finding random photos of pure joy and exhaustion will be an awesome surprise when you get them developed after camp.
-Cell phones aren't allowed and this is a cheap way to still get those photos.
-Walmart sells them in packs of three and can develop them for you after camp.


4. A Good Hat, Sunglasses, & Water bottle

-Sun sun and more sun. A good hat will come in handy when any bit of shade will help from the heat.
 -Try to bring two pairs of sunglasses. The one pair that you love and another pair, that if broken, wouldn't bother you. From personal experience, I broke my only pair halfway through the week when I dropped my back pack on them.
-A reusable water bottle is essential! Staying hydrated makes camp a much better experience. Once again it will be hot, hot, hot!

5. Lastly...  A great attitude.

-RYLA is a place to shine and be who you truly are - a great leader. Trust the program and dive headfirst into what RYLA is. Leave with no regrets.

We CANNOT wait to welcome you to camp.
-RYLA Alumni