Raising Tomorrow’s Leaders: The Lifelong Impact of Wanakita’s SC Program

When Cam talks about Camp Wanakita, a spark lights up. Now a lawyer, a dad of three, and a lifelong Hamiltonian, Cam still carries Wanakita with him every day. Even though his years as a Student Counsellor (SC) were more than two decades ago, the memories remain vivid, stitched into the person he’s become.

Cam arrived at Wanakita for the first time in 1995 as a junior camper. He spent two weeks away from home, no friends, and no family tradition tying him to the place. 

“I wasn’t a legacy kid,” he laughs. “I was basically the first in my family to go.” 

Yet by the time he stepped into the SC Program in 2000 and 2001, Wanakita had already sunk deep roots into his life.

Learning to Shine Through Challenge

The first year SC summer, Cam remembers, was all about physical challenge. Days were filled with swimming circuits off the old east‑end H‑dock and long paddles across the water. There was a big canoe trip too, one he still remembers “every single day of,” even 26 years later.

“We were canoeing 40 kilometers a day,” he says. “It was super challenging…but an adventure. It kind of created a love of adventure activities in me.”

That trip, and the entire summer, taught him something powerful: when you push through hard things, you change. You grow. You shine.

In the second summer of the SC program, the learning shifted. Yes, there were still physical tasks and full camp days, but what stands out most for Cam is the people he connected with when he began learning how to be a good camp counsellor.

He also trained for and participated in Wanakita’s one‑on‑one program supporting campers with additional needs. Cam says those experiences were life-changing, putting him in real leadership situations at a young age that taught him how to stay calm, patient, and compassionate. 

“You learn a lot about yourself, and a lot about how to carry yourself as an adult.”

Today, Cam still camps and goes on canoe trips regularly, but it’s the softer skills that show up most clearly in his day‑to‑day life.

Resilience. Confidence. The courage to try something hard again, and again.

“As a lawyer, nothing is handed to you,” he says. “You need that resilience to keep moving, or you won’t succeed. I think a lot of that can be traced back to camp.”

He still stays connected to the friends he made in the SC Program, even receiving a surprise LinkedIn request recently from someone he shared that second summer with. Different lives, different cities, different careers, yet still bonded by those weeks on Koshlong Lake.

Shining Forward: Cam’s Message to Donors

When asked what he’d say to someone considering a donation to Wanakita, and the future of the SC Program, Cam takes a moment. Then he speaks with the conviction of someone who truly understands the impact.

“You’re investing in your community. You’re investing in the future. You never know what impact the program might have on someone—how it could change the course of their life. It’s a super worthwhile thing to contribute to.”

For campers like Cam, Wanakita is more than a place. It’s a launchpad. A lifelong compass. A chance to Shine On.