Sally Langan ’17 worked with children from at-risk neighborhoods in Boston.
I spent my summer working at Camp Harbor View as a group leader. CHV is a summer camp on Long Island in the Boston Harbor that offers 900 children from Boston’s at-risk neighborhoods the opportunity to have a true summer camp experience and participate in a four-week summer camp program. My friend Kiyanna and I started a Creative Writing Club, and had two campers sign up. One was Kayla, an 11-year-old girl who had a passion for poetry and self-reflection. She didn’t love everything about being at camp, especially the outdoor activities, but said club time was her favorite hour of the day. We began writing each other letters, and she opened up to me about her family life and how she struggles in school and with making friends. She wrote about the labels society puts on her as a woman of color. On the last day of camp, she wrote me a letter of advice, and at the end it said, “when there is no enemy within, the enemies outside cannot hurt you.” We hugged and tears streamed down her face. She had recently lost a family member and felt I was the only person she could honestly talk to, and she was thankful for our time together. I realized that working with young children is one way to make a real difference in one’s community. I am proud to say that during my time at CHV, I was able to influence my camper Kayla, and she was able to leave me with advice I will hold close forever.