{"id":6432,"date":"2026-02-03T08:47:42","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T08:47:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/?p=6432"},"modified":"2026-02-03T08:47:52","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T08:47:52","slug":"a-summer-of-connection-and-growth-my-camp-america-experience-in-maine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/a-summer-of-connection-and-growth-my-camp-america-experience-in-maine\/","title":{"rendered":"A Summer of Connection and Growth: My Camp America Experience in Maine"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Name: <\/strong>Joseph Lake<\/p>\n<p><strong>Your academic school: <\/strong>ENCAP<\/p>\n<p><strong>Where did you go?\u00a0 <\/strong>Maine, USA. Camp Caribou, Camp America<\/p>\n<p><strong>What type of placement did you complete? <\/strong>International Summer Programme<\/p>\n<p><strong>What motivated you to take up a Global Opportunity?<br \/>\n<\/strong>I love travelling and meeting new people and thought it would be the perfect opportunity for me to try something new!<\/p>\n<p><strong>What were your top 3 highlights from your time abroad?<br \/>\n<\/strong>-Meeting new friends from all across the world who I still talk to now<\/p>\n<p>-Spending my summer doing something I love and being outdoors in the sun the whole time<\/p>\n<p>-Learning about how people live in America, exploring an enormous country which I&#8217;d never been to before<\/p>\n<p><strong>What was your biggest challenge? How did you overcome it?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How has your placement been beneficial to your studies at Cardiff University or your future career?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>My placement really made me focus on time management and working hard even when I&#8217;m tired. Though the days sometimes felt long, they went by so quickly and I loved them. Now I&#8217;m at uni it helps me to balance my commitments to extracurricular clubs at the same time as my degree.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is the one thing you wish you\u2019d known before you left?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I wish that I had known that there wouldn&#8217;t be much time to read. I bought 5 books with me and only finished the first one 2 weeks before camp finished.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What would you say to a student that was unsure about spending a period abroad?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The more you research it, the more you&#8217;ll start to feel like it&#8217;s the right thing to do.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What are 3 things to do in your host destination?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>There are countless things to do in the USA. For Maine specifically, I would say visiting Bar Harbour, hiking Mount Katahdin and trying lobster.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Share your top tips for thriving in your programme destination\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Bring less clothes than you think you&#8217;ll need (definitely bring crocs), ask people who know the area where to eat and what to do, and don&#8217;t forget to phone your family and friends.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Please sum up your experience abroad in one sentence\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>My time at camp was unforgettable in the best way<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Name: Joseph Lake Your academic school: ENCAP Where did you go?\u00a0 Maine, USA. Camp Caribou, Camp America What type of placement did you complete? International Summer Programme What motivated you [&hellip;]","protected":false},"author":7101,"featured_media":6433,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[475,270],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6432","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-go-student-ambassadors","category-summer-programmes"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4QQbz-1FK","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6117,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/meet-the-ambassador\/","url_meta":{"origin":6432,"position":0},"title":"Meet the ambassador &#8211; Joe &#8211; ENCAP, USA","author":"Global Opportunities Globetrotters","date":"October 9, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Name: Joseph Lake School, Degree Programme: ENCAP, English Literature Y2 Host destination: Camp America, USA Tell us about your global opportunity\u2014where did you go, and what did you do? I went to Camp America over summer, spending over 2 months at a sports camp in Maine. I spent my time\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;GO Student Ambassadors&quot;","block_context":{"text":"GO Student Ambassadors","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/category\/go-student-ambassadors\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2025\/10\/Joseph-Lake-scaled.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2025\/10\/Joseph-Lake-scaled.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2025\/10\/Joseph-Lake-scaled.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2025\/10\/Joseph-Lake-scaled.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2025\/10\/Joseph-Lake-scaled.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2025\/10\/Joseph-Lake-scaled.jpeg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6216,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/my-time-at-camp-america\/","url_meta":{"origin":6432,"position":1},"title":"My time at Camp America","author":"Global Opportunities Globetrotters","date":"November 17, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"A day in the life 7:30am: Get up if the kids haven\u2019t already woken you. \u00a08:00am: Breakfast, donuts on Sundays 9:00am: First instructional starts. For me, this meant teaching kids swimming for an hour at a time in the lake. The morning focussed on helping the kids at improve in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;GO Student Ambassadors&quot;","block_context":{"text":"GO Student Ambassadors","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/category\/go-student-ambassadors\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2025\/11\/IMG_6461_Joseph-Lake-scaled.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2025\/11\/IMG_6461_Joseph-Lake-scaled.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2025\/11\/IMG_6461_Joseph-Lake-scaled.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2025\/11\/IMG_6461_Joseph-Lake-scaled.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2025\/11\/IMG_6461_Joseph-Lake-scaled.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2025\/11\/IMG_6461_Joseph-Lake-scaled.jpeg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4512,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/juliette-livet\/","url_meta":{"origin":6432,"position":2},"title":"Juliette Livet","author":"GO Student Ambassadors","date":"January 15, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"School of Engineering Summer internship Where did you go? I completed a 6 week internship in Qingdao, China through InternChina during the summer holidays. What motivated you to take up a Global Opportunity? The opportunity to have a professional and social experience abroad motivated me to take part in a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;GO Student Ambassadors&quot;","block_context":{"text":"GO Student Ambassadors","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/category\/go-student-ambassadors\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2020\/01\/4-2-e1578416052726-150x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2020\/01\/4-2-e1578416052726-150x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2020\/01\/4-2-e1578416052726-150x150.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2020\/01\/4-2-e1578416052726-150x150.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2020\/01\/4-2-e1578416052726-150x150.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2020\/01\/4-2-e1578416052726-150x150.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5955,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/south-africa-summer-volunteering-the-mighty-roar\/","url_meta":{"origin":6432,"position":3},"title":"South Africa Summer Volunteering &#8211; The Mighty Roar","author":"Global Opportunities Globetrotters","date":"May 21, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Name: Joshua Franklin\u00a0 Degree subject and school: Politics and Modern History, LAWPL\/SHARE \u00a0 Type of Global Opportunity: International Summer Programme, Volunteering Placement Where did you go? Plettenberg Bay, South Africa. I found the opportunity through The Mighty Roar. What motivated you to take up a Global Opportunity? I wanted a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;GO Student Ambassadors&quot;","block_context":{"text":"GO Student Ambassadors","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/category\/go-student-ambassadors\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2025\/05\/IMG_1201_Joshua-Franklin-scaled.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2025\/05\/IMG_1201_Joshua-Franklin-scaled.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2025\/05\/IMG_1201_Joshua-Franklin-scaled.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2025\/05\/IMG_1201_Joshua-Franklin-scaled.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2025\/05\/IMG_1201_Joshua-Franklin-scaled.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2025\/05\/IMG_1201_Joshua-Franklin-scaled.jpeg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6457,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/entrepreneurship-and-sustainability-in-bremen-germany\/","url_meta":{"origin":6432,"position":4},"title":"Entrepreneurship and Sustainability in Bremen, Germany","author":"Global Opportunities Globetrotters","date":"March 5, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Name: Charlotte Bennett Your academic school: History, Archaeology, & Religion Where did you go? Bremen University, Germany What type of placement did you complete? Volunteering Summer Programme \u00a0 What motivated you to take up a Global Opportunity? The description of the opportunity focused on entrepreneurship and sustainability, which felt very\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;GO Student Ambassadors&quot;","block_context":{"text":"GO Student Ambassadors","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/category\/go-student-ambassadors\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2026\/03\/IMG_6806_Charlotte-Bennett.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2026\/03\/IMG_6806_Charlotte-Bennett.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2026\/03\/IMG_6806_Charlotte-Bennett.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2026\/03\/IMG_6806_Charlotte-Bennett.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2026\/03\/IMG_6806_Charlotte-Bennett.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5052,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/joseph-thomson\/","url_meta":{"origin":6432,"position":5},"title":"Joseph Thomson","author":"GO Student Ambassadors","date":"December 14, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences International Summer Study Placement Where did you go? 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