By Aaron Selkow, Owner\/Director<\/pre>\nWe\u2019re six weeks into camp, and at this point in the summer, I\u2019ve seen enough to be reminded that leadership here doesn\u2019t always look like a keynote speech or a flawless plan. Sometimes it looks like a Mato camper sprinting toward the end zone, clutching the football like a hot potato as he realizes he\u2019s about to score for the first time. Or a Wakanda camper showing plate discipline, drawing a walk to score a run in a big inter-camp game. Or even a Varsity camper putting their arm around a friend and quietly helping them through a tough moment in the middle of an up-and-down day.<\/p>\n
We are two-thirds of the way through this session \u2014 and six-sevenths of the way through the summer \u2014 and what\u2019s been built here is more than schedules, programs, or Tribal points. We\u2019ve built leaders. Some of them are 9 years old, some are 19, and some are staff members who didn\u2019t even realize they had it in them until now.<\/p>\n
When I wrote an article for Camping Magazine a few years ago, I admitted that my camp-director \u201cskills\u201d were, well, eclectic:<\/p>\n
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<\/a>Some of these, I\u2019ll admit, I\u2019ve probably gotten too <\/em>good at, while struggling to improve at things that might matter a bit more to camp\u2019s success (and my own). Others \u2014 like belaying on the high ropes course, driving the golf cart without an actual key, or calming a parent who isn\u2019t getting the answer they want \u2014 I\u2019ve learned out of necessity.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.chestnutlakecamp.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_1044-512x410.jpeg\")
<\/a>These moments don\u2019t happen because someone read a manual on leadership. They happen because we\u2019ve built a community where people jump in, try, fail, adjust, try again \u2014 and where those actions are noticed and celebrated.<\/p>\n