Welcome to Camp Noelle!
We aim to bring together young people and ignite their creativity. Nestled beside a serene lakeside on the eastern coast, this camp promises a space to detach from the worries of everyday life.
At Camp Noelle, no two days look the same. Participants are encouraged to explore new interests, revisit old ones, and challenge themselves in ways that feel safe yet meaningful. Whether you arrive feeling inspired or uncertain, you will be supported throughout your stay.
You may arrive with a chaotic mind, but over the course of one month, you will not feel alone. You will be forced out of your comfort zone, sure, but you'll thank us later for it.
There is art, music, dance, nature, and friendship. What more could a person need to be happy?
By the time you return, you will be changed. And changed for the better.
We look forward to welcoming you. Memories of a lifetime await.
What you offer
Active participation in daily activities
• Help with daily chores - cleaning, cooking, raking (?)
• Willingness to collaborate, create, and engage
• Openness to stepping outside your comfort zone
• Respect for the community and shared spaces
Activities include
Art and creative workshops
• Music and movement sessions
• Writing and reflection circles
• Nature walks and lakeside activities
• Group discussions and collaborative projects
What you get
A one-month immersive camp experience
• Shared accommodation with fellow participants
• Three meals provided daily
• Access to all workshops and activities
• Limited phone use to encourage presence
• A supportive and inclusive environment
• Time away from everyday distractions
Towards the end, there was a list of other schools who were participating. A list of a total ten schools.
The more I stare at the prospect, the more it seems to pull me in. It feels oddly intentional, as if the universe glanced at my general state of mind – which happens to be just existing – and decided to intervene. I do not usually believe in things lining up perfectly, which makes this harder to ignore. I am starting to feel super excited! Which is new, because lately, it feels like I am living passively.
This sounds interesting.
I take out my phone and look up images of the campsite. The view is breathtaking. Lakeside cabins, tall trees, open skies. It looks like the kind of place people go to find themselves, or at the very least, lose their phone signal. I have not traveled much, so anything that is not surrounded by concrete feels automatically beautiful.
I think I am longing for peace. I wonder if this is the opportunity I need to feel like myself again.
Maybe.
In an attempt to turn this sudden interest into an actual plan, I call Kevin. Only then do I notice the time. It is 12:41 a.m. I have apparently been sitting here, doing nothing, for over two hours.
It is late, but I know him. He will be watching something. Sure enough, he answers after three rings.
"Yo, what's up?"
"Hey, sorry for calling so late," I say. "I just sent in my name for the camp. I need you to send yours too."
"Oh wow," he says. "Okay, wait. I forgot to tell you something. The coach called earlier. We have a training camp for six days, and it might overlap with this."
My excitement stutters, just a little.
"I need to confirm with Coach," he continues, "and also check with Mrs. Shelly if it's okay for me to be gone from practice for a week. Give me a day to sort this out?"
"Oh. Yeah. Of course," I say quickly. "No problem. Let me know. See you!"
We hung up.
Kevin is not lacking confidence. He just saves it for when it matters. He is careful with his choices, deliberate in a way I have never quite managed to be. I am grateful he found me last year, right after the breakup, and decided I was his responsibility now. He stayed. He checked in. He let me cry without trying to fix anything.
Lucky me.
Kevin leads a very normal life and that's the most exciting part about him. But unfortunately, leading a normal life is often considered to be boring. Nobody wants mundane anymore. This is the 21st century. Of course, the idea of a normal, routine life was left far behind in 19th century Victorian England. And the concept of bowing down to the modalities doesn't exist at all now. It makes me wonder, is it because everybody is dying to do something that will be remembered for centuries to come? Like Edgar Allan Poe, or maybe Jane Austen, whose precious works see the dawn of the day and will continue to do so for centuries to come.
People don't want to live a normal life anymore. It's like, the bar for a good life is set so high that everybody is always looking out to do something exceptional. And while they are at it, they completely miss the phase of going through years of robust modelling that could have helped them lead an exceptional life.
And while the number of people wanting to settle down with normal life is exponentially declining, the number of people who end up crestfallen because they fail to impress themselves with their exceptional expectations are ever-rising. And while more and more people are inclining towards doing something extra-ordinary, they fail to see that the more they try to be exceptional, the more they fall back into the same category, like a thousand others. The more they become normal.
I stop myself.
I am doing it again.
Thinking too much.
I just want to be at peace. I want to be carefree. But that's also something that's the most difficult to do. But again, nothing worth possessing ever came easy. That being said, it need not necessarily mean that you must struggle for every piece of happiness that comes your way. Or you must move mountains for an ounce of momentary comfort. Should you? Is a moment's happiness worth a million painful seconds of chase?
For now, I tell myself that trying is enough.
I make a cup of tea and curl up with a romcom on my cracked Samsung screen. If Camp Noelle turns out to be nothing more than a month away from my routine, that might still be worth it.
At the very least, it feels like a step.