For our Annual Dinner for 2017, we asked some of our program participants to share their stories. One of the young people we heard from was Briana—a 10th grader who graduated from our Leadership Training Program this fall. This is the speech she shared about how Sherwood Forest has impacted her life.

I first joined Sherwood Forest during Trek and graduated from Journey last year. I was extremely nervous in the beginning because I didn’t know if i would fit in or not. I was definitely proven wrong, though. Everyone accepted me so quickly and treated me like I had been there for years.

 

After my first summer at camp I was really excited to go back, I was looking forward to seeing all the friends I made and the cool counselors I met.

 

There’s so many things to love about camp — from making new friends to going on trips, the adventure never ends.

 

I couldn’t imagine spending my summers any differently. Coming to camp not only made me a better person, but it has opened up many more opportunities for me. Without camp I probably wouldn’t have known what questions to ask on a college visit and definitely wouldn’t be able to plan an entire trip with a group of girls who sometimes drive me crazy.

 

Sherwood also offers programs during the school year. One program Supports for Success. This program helps kids figure out what they want to do after high school and prepares the for the real world.

 

The Supports for Success program has helped me a lot. It’s nice to be around kids my age who also want to get a head start on planning for life after high school.

 

My goal after high school is to attend college, major in education and minor in mathematics so that I can become a middle school or high school teacher.

 

There are so many things this camp offers that are just hard to pass up. I love Sherwood Forest and I’m excited and honored to come back this summer as a Counselor-in-Training.

You can give more kids opportunites and adventures like Briana’s. Donate today. 

Learn more about Supports for Success