Camp names are a tradition at almost every outdoor school experience. Lanyards carry these names, where colorful, cursive letters are written on an ornament made of wood.
These names create a connection between camp counselors and the natural world around them, adding on to whimsical and fantastical memories campers will leave with from this experience.
Choosing a Nature Name
The concept of nature names comes from the main goal of any sort of science camp experience – letting students create a real and lasting connection with nature. For many students, this is their first time camping, spending an extended time away from home or extensively exploring the outdoors. These experiences provide a chance for campers to gain a new perspective and appreciation for the world around them.
When creating a nature name, a connection is formed between the natural world and the person using this name. In creating this lasting bond between the user and nature, campers have the ability to search for their own connection, creating a lasting relationship to this moment in time.
Some use the first letter of their own name, their nature version becoming a fun spin off or alternate persona. Others decide to connect their names to what they love most in nature, choosing their favorite animals, plants or ecosystems.
No matter what nature name is chosen, each individual furthers their connection to nature, simultaneously encouraging campers to think about what connects them to the same beautiful, green planet.
How to Get Involved
Outdoor School is a Penn State experience that provides students with the opportunity to further their connection to nature and provides others with a meaningful experience as well. Elementary students join camp counselors on a four-day trip where various activities and adventures allow campers and counselors alike the opportunity to explore and create a lasting relationship with nature.
For Penn State students, this opportunity does not only encourage a cultivation of a strong sense of self, but also it encourages the traits of this strength to be passed on to the campers who are a part of the experience.
Through Outdoor School, and any science camp opportunities for that matter, counselors are provided with the opportunity to educate and inform while simultaneously learning more themselves.
In an environment where your new name is one directly tied to nature, your morning started by the natural rise of the sun, your night ending at the fall of the stars and where your meals are surrounded by curiosity and joy, outdoor experiences like these only further each and every participant’s relationship with the world.
What would your nature name be? Tag @VALLEYmag on Instagram and let us know!
