This Week's Program: Camp RYLA
Chris Correia gave a short introduction about Camp RYLA, saying that Marty Byrnes has been at the camp for 19 years, our speakers, Holly McGinn and Dylan Carlson, just completed their first year at camp RYLA, and in between are the RYLA facilitators, DJ and Charlotte.
Dylan and Holly came to the front table to tell us about their first year experiences. Dylan spoke first, saying how nervous he was when he first arrived at camp. But he made friends through his RYLA family and learned to truly listen to others, learning about many new people. Holly thanked us for the opportunity to attend camp RYLA, and how a whole week of interacting with new people made her realize the value others can bring or offer. They talked about the Bafa Bafa exercise, where everyone is divided into two different cultures and the try to interact. They learned to treat people equally. They also enjoyed community service, packing boxes of food to feed needy families, and handing out roses. Dylan's favorite quote was "Life is a mission, not a career". Holly hopes to bring leadership skills back to her soccer team and now has an idea to do a 5K race on wheels through the Reach program. After their talk, Pres Judy presented them with our club banner and said they passed the test of bringing tears to her eyes with their heartwarming talk of their life changes.
Marty Byrnes, who completed his last year at RYLA this year, added that he often wonders if RYLArians get the real meaning of it. He told us the story of how at this year's camp, a pianist couldn't complete her performance, and Holly went on stage, sat down on the piano bench with her and said "Teach me." She got it!