Our Quest for Knowledge and Its Impact On Kids

Posted in: Blog by amy on March 31, 2018

“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”
― Mahatma Gandhi

I love to learn. If college were more affordable (subject for another blog post) and if time were more abundant, I would love to keep getting degrees and continue learning more about everything from philosophy to astronomy. Instead, I take on challenges and immerse myself in them. Last week, Brandon Watts (founder of 1000 Watts Sports) and I attended the Tri-State Camp Conference in Atlantic City, amongst 3,000 other camp owners, directors and staff members and hundreds of vendors, as well. This in itself was a mini-education for both of us: We were so eager to learn, to listen and to then come home and immediately start implementing tools and strategies that we had consumed in our three days there. 

One conference highlight was the opening speaker, Dr. Shefali Tsabary, a psychologist and best-selling author who spoke about the empowerment of children. She passionately reminded the packed room of our opportunity to connect with kids for even just a brief moment and told us that we have the ability to help them become more resilient, more authentic beings. I began taking notes and clinging to her words, not just as a camp director, but as a mom, as a daughter, as a sister and simply as a human being who is trying to be her authentic self.

“One conscious connection with a child can change the trajectory for that child,” Tsabary said. And I understood the power that we hold and the task that we must seriously consider. If we are not present; if we are too focused on happiness; if we are fearful of any kind of suffering, then how can we become our true selves? Further, if we are not our true selves, how can the little campers and children before us look into our eyes and gain knowledge and the necessary tools along their journey of discovering their own true selves? We need to be present. This is what I have been focusing on day after day. I was well aware of the importance of embracing the moments, even the painful ones; however, I was not considering the impact that my journey and my personal evolution could have on the journeys of campers and on those paths of my own children. I was so grateful for her emphatic presentation, which had the power to change my trajectory, as well.

From there, the discussions and presentations were slightly less philosophical and more informative, hands-on and easily applicable to our day-to-day programming. We heard experts talk about everything from staff training to healthcare. We laughed our way through one presentation by the energetic and talented speaker Michael Brandwein, which included great team-building exercises. I couldn’t control my laughter when one exercise led to Brandon having to remove his treasured Jordan 9s and start tossing them to his new teammates! He handled it well — let’s just say he led his team well and helped enable them to never drop a revered shoe.

Another presentation that was co-hosted by a woman who happens to be a friend of mine, encouraged Brandon and I to go home and immediately start conducting surveys amongst children and parents in our programs. Dayna Hardin, owner of Lake of the Woods and Greenwoods camps, made us aware of the importance of utilizing surveys to improve our business, learn more about our clients and to implement change based on the feedback.

Those three days in Atlantic City were so eye-opening. We obviously knew the importance of learning and networking, which is why we attended in the first place. But, we were surprised by our true hunger for more knowledge. Brandon and I discussed how much we learned and how both of us were going to take home these lessons and use them not only with 1000 Watts Sports, but in our own homes, as well. It’s amazing for me to think that I went to a camp conference in New Jersey and left there wanting to be a more authentic, evolved, present human being who never dismisses an opportunity to learn and improve. At the end of the day, this is why we are all here. If we are not getting better and smarter and more peaceful, then what are we really doing? And, in getting better, we are arming ourselves with the most important tool: the ability to transform children’s lives. I am grateful that so many of us left that conference with a sincere desire and a heightened ability to help children become their own true, resilient selves.

“For me, I am driven by two main philosophies: know more today about the world than I knew yesterday and lessen the suffering of others. You’d be surprised by how far that gets you.”                   
― Neil deGrasse Tyson