The Summer Solstice. The longest day of the year: 14 hours and 35 minutes of sunlight. That’s 14 hours and 35 minutes of endless possibilities. Here at Solstice, that’s what we think summer camp is all about — possibilities.

Most everyone remembers the feeling of your first day of camp. Clutching a backpack and your soccer cleats, or maybe just your mother’s hand. Overwhelmed by that trembling sensation of doing something new and a bit scary. But no matter where you were or what you were spending your summer doing, camp always felt like an adventure waiting to happen.

And trailing just behind all the adventure at the end of summer, we often discovered growth.

While working at a rustic outdoor camp in the Appalachian Mountains, I found me, buried beneath the insecurities of my freshman year of college. It didn’t matter that I was relatively awful at camping, or that I was afraid of heights and, consequently, the rock wall. As the self-proclaimed least-qualified camp counselor in the history of ever, I somehow found a place where I belonged.

That’s our hope for you, the reader. Be it a six-week athletically intensive training camp or a
YMCA day camp for swimming and bracelet making, we hope to help you find your place at summer camp. Parent, camper or counselor. Solstice aims to capture your moments of insecurity and transform them into stories of growth. Sometimes it’ll make you laugh, and it might even make you think. But mostly, Solstice will be a resource for every family and their camper — no matter your background, interests or abilities.

Your 14 hours and 35 minutes of endless possibilities start here.