Camp Delta from a 2nd Year Staff Member
“Who are we? We are Pit! What are we? We are lit! What do we do? We don’t quit! What are they? They are SHHHHH!”
-Pit Family, Camp Delta X
It is now about two weeks (or little over two weeks) since Camp Delta X (10). For those who are not familiar with Camp Delta, it is a leadership retreat for university students who are active in their Vietnamese Student Associations (VSAs) where they receive leadership development, interpersonal development, and networking. All the student leaders come from all over the Gulf Coast Region, which includes Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. Just a little history about my involvement with Camp Delta. I first attended Camp Delta 8 as an attendee and it made such an impact on me because it sparked my growth as a leader and as an individual. I fell in love with the idea of giving back to the community and educating future leaders about what it takes to develop his or her leadership skills. Doing so, I took the initiative to apply for Camp Delta 9 staff. I wanted to be a part of the Logistics team because I felt that the Logistics team was the team that I could showcase my analytical skills that would be beneficial for camp. Fortunately, I made it to the Logistics team under the guidance of Anthony Huynh, Logistics director. From there, I learned the ins and outs of the campsite, how to set up all the materials needed for camp, resolve any issues that were to arise before and during camp, and much more. I definitely grew my skills being on the Logistics team.
Despite my love for Logistics team, I did felt that I was missing something. Throughout the eight month process preparing for Camp Delta 9, I definitely grew to become the leader I am today. I became the Decoration Committee Head that year and took a lot of initiative to get our team to move forward. However, all of the logistical work was done behind the scenes and away from the attendees. Logistics team would be away setting up for the next activity or doing errands while the attendees were enjoying themselves at camp. That was when I realized that I wanted to come back as staff again but this time… I wanted to be a counselor. My reason to becoming counselor was because I wanted to be there one-on-one with the attendees and educating them all that there is to know about what makes a leader an inspiring leader. Counselors are there to make sure that all the lessons needed for the attendees to learn from every activities they participate in are taught and used, so that they can bring back what they learned at Camp Delta to their VSAs and community. Lucky for me, I applied and got the position as counselor for Camp Delta X (10)!
In the eight-months process preparing for Camp Delta, I had to go through workshops after workshops that were provided to make sure that I had all the knowledge on what it takes to be a counselor and how to become a great one. I will have to say that my experience as a counselor was the most memorable experience I have ever had during my time at Camp Delta. This year’s theme was Nintendo and we had three pillars that we wanted our attendees to learn by the end of camp - Confidence, Perseverance, and Perspective.
When arriving to the campsite, all the attendees were separated into families to promote networking and build friendships. Jenny Le’Dang, my co-counselor, and I raised an amazing family! Our Pit Family (Pit is our family mascot) was the best family we could ever ask for. They persevere through every activities despite the obstacles and struggles they had to face. They were very open-minded so that they could see other’s perspectives in the same situation. At the end of camp, they became confident as a leader and, most importantly, in themselves. Throughout camp, I was able to finally experience what it was like to see my family exponentially grow from Day 1 to Day 4. I will have to say that it is amazing. I do not know how to describe the feeling. Each and every moment that I had with my family was memorable. Every time I see each and every family member, I saw so much potential in them. I am immensely proud of every one of them! (Ah! I’m tearing up just typing this!) From all the small accomplishments they made in every activity to all the encouraging words they said to each other during times of frustration, I am honored to witness every moment of it and I will cherish each and every memory I have of them!
To those who are interested in attending Camp Delta, I highly recommend attending it. It’s an amazing experience! You get to meet so many people and build long-lasting friendships in such a short amount of time. At Day 1, we were all strangers. However, by Day 4, we left Camp Delta as a family. If you want to know more about Camp Delta, feel free to personally ask me!
Much love, Wendy
