For my STEP Signature Project, I volunteered at Camp Quality Ohio. This is a week-long summer camp that serves children affected by cancer. This includes children actively fighting cancer, survivors, and their siblings. While the whole cabin worked collaboratively, I was assigned to one camper and took full responsibility for her daily care, safety, and participation throughout the week. I made sure that she was supervised at all points throughout the day and coordinated with other volunteers to make sure their campers were always accounted for.

Before camp, I assumed most kids there would be patients themselves. But the camper I was paired with, Ella, was a sibling who’s brother had passed away from cancer. I had done all of the assigned training modules on how to help take care of a child who was sick, but nothing on one who was grieving. It changed my perspective on what care should look like, especially in the healthcare field. This experience taught me that while medicine itself is important, people really need the type of connection and support that a place like this offers. It was never about distracting the kids and entertaining them, but about forming a support system for them and showing them that they’re not alone. I also learned very quickly that just by showing up and putting in your best effort, you’re making a huge difference in the lives of others even if you don’t realize it or think about it.

I first drove to camp without knowing what to expect, thinking that I’d only really make a small difference in Ella’s life. Camp Quality proved me wrong completely. The event that supported this was on the last day, where counselors sat in a circle with their eyes closed and campers would tap the shoulder of volunteers who made their week at camp better. It was hard to keep track but I got upwards of 60 taps! It was a really heartwarming moment for everybody but truly made me realize how many people we can reach without ever realizing and how important that impact can feel.

I had a child in my cabin, Carlie, who was actively fighting cancer. This camp keeps fantastic track of medications that each camper requires and we would bring her to the nurse’s office each morning and night to receive her dose. In between each visit, she would go down the water slide, decorate cookies, play on the swings with the other girls. Nobody ever asked her where she was going and each understood when she ran out of energy and needed a break. The support that she received from the kids around her made it so she could feel like a kid again. It’s this type of silent support that I think is so valuable in this camp. She understood that she wasn’t alone and that she didn’t have to explain herself here.

There was one extremely meaningful moment at the end of camp, where everybody stood in a circle and “Lean on Me” played. We all swayed back and forth, leaning on each other as the lyrics suggested. It was a moment where everybody understood that each person in the circle was there for them and that we also have an obligation to others to help when we’re able to.

This experience was significant to my life in multiple ways. First, I do plan to enter into healthcare. It’s important for me to be able to understand things holistically and be able to see that yes, medicine is important, but also that support and connection are invaluable. Each experience throughout the week showed me how important it was for these kids to know they weren’t alone.

It was also significant personally in two ways. I learned valuable lessons about showing up for others and how important each individual is in the grand scheme of things. I also do want to start a family in the future, and I think I learned a lot about the responsibility of being assigned a child to take care of and how hectic the process can be. But also how to come out on top.

Camp Quality didn’t teach me a grand life lesson all at once. It taught me small lessons, day by day. I learned how much showing up matters, even when you don’t feel like you’re doing anything special. I got a crash course in being responsible for someone else, and I saw how far small acts of care can go. It made me think more seriously about the kind of provider I want to be: someone who sees the bigger picture, not just the symptoms. And maybe down the line, the kind of parent I want to be too.

Ella and I on prom night!

Arts and Crafts with our cabin!

Me applying leopard tattoos for the “jungle” theme.

Cabin photo!