CampMed at UCI- and why working with the youth is so worth it

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A year ago, I got involved in this organization at UC Irvine, CampMed.

I received an email that said they were looking for counselors for this camp who's mission was to inspire high school students from lower socioeconomic areas to pursue higher education and careers in the medical field. I'd been involved in a community service org in college so I thought it would be fun plus I felt guilty that I hadn't done any community service in years.

They accepted me and next thing I know, I'm at the first meeting with about 60 loud and cheering undergrads having flashbacks to my own college days and thinking, "I'm too old for this" and "what did I just get myself into."

It turned out to be a really great experience and reminded me of why I need to make the time to give back. 

I know I'm still relatively young, but there's something about working with young people. They have this optimism and energy that I had somehow lost in the five years since I had graduated. And I think there's a reason that society is always looking to the younger generations for hope for the future.

Because we need to be reminded of the idealism and the "we-can-do-anything-if-we-set-our-minds-to-it" outlook that life tends to beat out of us as we grow older. If we don't have hope, then we'll just give up on fixing the huge problems in this world. 

With that being said, this group of undergraduate students spend the entire year fundraising so that the high school students can go to this camp for free. It's a legit camp too, like the ones we would take back in middle school with cabins out in the woods. 

It's a three-day/two-night camp where they host workshops with guest speakers from a wide variety of careers. I'm not talking about just doctors or nurses but also occupational therapists, audiologists (they help people with hearing problems), respiratory specialists, and dentists. They also host hands-on activities such as learning how to take someone's blood pressure, draw blood (using a fake arm and kool-aid), using ultrasounds, and more. Plus all the regular fun camp stuff.

Overall, it's really educational and inspiring for the high school students and I think more importantly it reminds them that people believe in them.

The undergrads themselves dedicate a lot of time and effort so I wanted to help by creating this donation page. ALL OF THE MONEY they raise goes towards funding this camp, so you can be sure that it's going to a great cause. 

Any amount is appreciated and as always thanks for reading! 



Video from last year:




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