Barbara-Anne Hemrick
Then: Summer Staff at Covecrest 2010.
Now: Theatre major at KSU (Kennesaw State University).
Was it worth it? Worth what? The most amazing 6 weeks ever? Then yes, it was way worth going rather than staying at home and hanging with friends. Yes, I would definitely do it again! I am definitely going to apply to come back to camp in some form but would like to try something different like service crew.
Do you still keep in touch with the summer staff from that year? I do! I keep in contact with most of them occasionally but about 4 I keep in contact with on a deeper level. Us girls call each other to catch up and randomly text each other that we love each other. It’s super cute.
Tell me more about why you’re at Kennesaw State University. While I was at camp, God put a lot of things on my heart, one being transferring schools. I transferred to a new school and it has been amazing. There is a huge support group at this school with my faith and it’s great. I don’t think I would have gotten to this point without going to camp. I am a theatre major and would tend to feel I needed to hide my faith due to the culture in this field. Now I am expressing it more freely and don’t care what people say about it. I found more theatre majors just like me and I have great talks with them about God. I go to Mass more often now. I started doing daily mass after camp, but I’ve had a hard time keeping it up with class so I go on Wednesdays and Sundays at least. I also do night prayer every night (with my boyfriend who was a summer staffer with me). This helps me to continue prayer even on days when I forget or feel disconnected to God.
Why should a college student apply to be a summer missionary at camp? College is hard. It’s hard to understand your faith and defend your faith. If you’re currently strong in your faith, you will get stronger and help others. If you’re completely lost in college, you won’t be once you are done with your weeks at camp. Or you will at least learn tools to help you get on track. I learned how to defend my faith which has always been a struggle for me. I learned about cool prayers such as liturgy of the hours. I love this prayer because it is something I can do daily. Before camp, I had no idea you could go to Mass every day!
