#20 / the new kid among newish kids
The Summer Camp Project founder sharing a personal story about high school memories and the importance of summer camp.
Part of an ongoing series on the "why" behind The Summer Camp Project. Full story here → Our Story
I went to three different elementary schools. My biological mom somehow managed to keep our childhood mostly consistent, but I remember each move being deeply disruptive. In 6th grade, we landed in a cockroach-infested apartment where my brothers and I made a game out of who could kill the most bugs as soon as we flipped the lights on. No matter how often we asked management to spray, the vermin returned in greater force. Prep, fogging, ventilation, and cleanup meant being displaced for four to six hours at a time. We couldn’t wait to move out.
August 2002 marked another reset; starting my sophomore year at the brand-new Juan Seguin High School on Silo Road in Arlington, Texas.
Because it was a new school, the existing social hierarchy was imported from the established high school ten minutes away. I had come from a school twenty minutes out. But because the building itself was brand new, every single student was effectively the new kid. We were all starting over and establishing new traditions together, a rare experience. The potential to make friends worked in our favor.
Our founding principal, Mr. Ed Farmer—a former Navy SEAL—would recite our school motto: “Where Excellence is the Standard.” In the halls, I ran into Ms. Barr, my speech and debate coach from junior high. Looking a bit like Ms. Frizzle, she served as a grounded anchor in unfamiliar territory, with a storybook quality.
The summer before, my adoptive mom Tammy and I had prayed for a true friend to enter my life. Sophomore year, while balancing a rigorous academic schedule, I shared lunches with Terence and Jennifer, played the “lady in the box” in our inaugural production of Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town,” auditioned for the Starline Dance and Drill Team, and hauled around bags of lollipops to fundraise my passage to summer camp.
Jennifer and I connected early that year over a game of putt-putt. We went to summer camp together the following summer, and she remains one of my best friends over two decades later. Having classes and lunch together was nice, but doing activities outside of school—and especially camp, where we could just be kids and explore—is what elevated a casual acquaintance into a lifelong friendship.
Starting over wasn’t as bad as I feared; it opened me up to new connections. Every fresh start has revealed a part of me I hadn't met yet.
Hue’s Field Notes:
The Pivot: Isolation vs. Shared Clean Slates
Moving constantly and navigating unfamiliar environments can make a child feel permanently on the outside. But when an environment is intentionally designed as a clean slate where everyone starts on equal footing, the anxiety of being the “new kid” transforms into an open door for connection and self-discovery.
The Link: Translating Childhood Memories into Institutional Purpose
Shared classrooms build familiarity, but shared experiences outside the traditional school setting build lifelong bonds. Summer camp breaks down social hierarchies and provides youth with the open space needed to build deep, enduring friendships rooted in play, trust, and shared adventure.
The Call to Action
The Summer Camp Project exists because too many young people wait years to feel a true sense of belonging. We create access to summer camp so kids don’t have to wait as long as I did to find their people, step into their confidence, and discover who they are. Help us bring more young people into spaces where they are welcomed, seen, and celebrated from day one.