A Summer of Connection and Growth: My Camp America Experience in Maine

Name: Joseph Lake

Your academic school: ENCAP

Where did you go?  Maine, USA. Camp Caribou, Camp America

What type of placement did you complete? International Summer Programme

What motivated you to take up a Global Opportunity?
I love travelling and meeting new people and thought it would be the perfect opportunity for me to try something new!

What were your top 3 highlights from your time abroad?
-Meeting new friends from all across the world who I still talk to now

-Spending my summer doing something I love and being outdoors in the sun the whole time

-Learning about how people live in America, exploring an enormous country which I’d never been to before

What was your biggest challenge? How did you overcome it?

My biggest challenge was the lifestyle at camp, which meant constantly being in a position of care for the kids and having to adapt to whatever they needed. Changing my lifestyle by going to bed earlier and working with my co counsellors made this less of a struggle.

How has your placement been beneficial to your studies at Cardiff University or your future career? 

My placement really made me focus on time management and working hard even when I’m tired. Though the days sometimes felt long, they went by so quickly and I loved them. Now I’m at uni it helps me to balance my commitments to extracurricular clubs at the same time as my degree.

What is the one thing you wish you’d known before you left? 

I wish that I had known that there wouldn’t be much time to read. I bought 5 books with me and only finished the first one 2 weeks before camp finished.

What would you say to a student that was unsure about spending a period abroad? 

The more you research it, the more you’ll start to feel like it’s the right thing to do.

What are 3 things to do in your host destination? 

There are countless things to do in the USA. For Maine specifically, I would say visiting Bar Harbour, hiking Mount Katahdin and trying lobster.

Share your top tips for thriving in your programme destination 

Bring less clothes than you think you’ll need (definitely bring crocs), ask people who know the area where to eat and what to do, and don’t forget to phone your family and friends.

Please sum up your experience abroad in one sentence 

My time at camp was unforgettable in the best way