By Emmy Wolfe, Hailey Oskey & Caelyn Jischke
Are you looking for a way to get involved this summer, make an impact in children’s lives and earn some extra credits along the way? Consider being a buddy for this year’s Camp Lloyd, which will take place June 20th through 24th.
Camp Lloyd is a summer camp originally created by Dr. Illene Cupit, a professor of Human Development at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. Camp Lloyd has helped grieving children learn how to deal with the loss of a loved one in a healthy manner. Each day, attendees of the camp get to participate in normal camp activities like arts and crafts, music, games, hiking, games, and gym activities. A special way that Camp Lloyd helps the attendees is through daily grief activities led by grief counselor Kaelee Heideman who is their ‘go-to’ person for grief support, along with the student buddies as well.
Camp Lloyd student interns or the ‘buddies’ are mostly recruited from Psychology, Social Work, and Educational courses. The students are able to participate in the camp for a three-credit internship after they complete a course in death and dying and training sessions the semester prior to the camp. Students are not considered the title ‘grief counselors,’ but the students are more looked at for their motivation, maturity, and sensitivity to children who are in difficult circumstances. Most interns or buddies have the desire to go forward in the counseling field. A special guest who will be attending and volunteering at Camp Lloyd is a professional Percussionist, teaching artist, and drum facilitator who uses his skills, expertise, and life experience to connect with people through rhythm and help put them at ease.
Talia Boyea, a senior at the University of Wisconsin – Green Bay, was a buddy at Camp Lloyd last year. Boyea had heard about Camp Lloyd when she attended it back in 2014, “My positive experience with the Camp in that aspect made me eager to apply to be a Buddy as a University student.” Boyea believes this experience is very enriching for all students, “I think students should participate in Camp Lloyd because I think it is one of the most enriching internship experiences. After learning about the death, dying, and loss aspect, it was really fascinating to integrate my knowledge and see the grieving process in a new light.” Boyea realized that being a Camp Lloyd buddy taught her a lot, “The campers at Camp Lloyd have taught me how resilient and mature children really are. The way that they shared about their experiences with death and grief really showed me that children can and do have a deep and developed sense of meaning/purpose of life.” Moments like these are special and something you can receive anywhere else. Being a Camp Lloyd buddy will teach you lifelong skills that you can not receive anywhere else.
