Ahoy Augustans!
The name’s Kai and I can’t wait to return to the woods of Augusta for a fifth summer! My name means ‘shellfish’ in Japanese, and ‘ocean’ in Hawaiian. I was born in sunny San Diego, California, and I’m about to complete my nineteenth trip around our big beautiful sun this summer while at camp! As I write this I am currently living in Boston, Massachusetts, about to finish my first year studying film and photography at Emerson College (With fellow Augustan Nako). This year has been a big transition for me going off to school and living by myself, but I am excited to be back to the familiar smell of pine trees, campfires, and oatmeal bake!
It’s been about two years since I last found myself on a lake called Vera and I can’t wait to see what’s changed or stayed the same. Last summer I decided to backpack around Europe with a couple of friends to try and learn more about the amazing world we live in. Being alone in a foreign country for the first time really helped me meet new people and experience cultures like I never thought was possible! I definitely want to travel more after this and am already making plans for my next adventure, so feel free to ask me about that when we meet this summer!
I love photography and film. When I was nearly 13, I got into photography for the first time and have stuck with it ever sense. The arts have been a big part of my life for a while. I also play guitar and definitely look forward to some jam sessions at camp! Camp is where I also learned to juggle devil sticks, so prepare to see a lot of juggling and just ask if you’d like me to show you how to do it! I love rock climbing and backpacking, so being out in the woods for a full summer feels like the right choice. Ever since I was a baby my family has made an effort to make sure I’m out adventuring as much as possible. Being outside so much as a kid I almost always had a hat on, and this trend has continued to this day as you’ll almost never see me without one on. Growing up in a little beach town outside of San Diego I spent most of my younger days surfing on the waves or running around in the desert canyons. While the beachy towns of Southern California will always be a place I call home, I have also been lucky enough to spend significant time volunteering in British Columbia, Canada as part of an animal rescue program. I work with rescuing endangered animals as well as helping out those already rescued in a rehabilitation center. Because it’s close to the ocean I mainly work with baby seal pups! I have some family in Canada as well, so it is a place which feels like a home for as long as I can remember.
That being shared, travel is another big passion of mine. Some of my favorite past destinations are Nepal, Japan, Chile, and Germany. I hope to one day combine my passions in travel, the outdoors, and photography by becoming a photographer for outdoor magazines, websites, or other companies. With film specifically, I am interested in working with big Hollywood movies, specifically in lighting and camera work. This summer I hope returning campers can experience camp’s activities as well as nature like they never had before, as well as participate in the wish, wonder, and surprise Augusta I fell in love with several years ago. I also look forward to eating oatmeal bake once again, however, as a certified breakfast sandwich lover, I will definitely be making many makeshift early morning sandwiches. I can’t wait to be back running through the woods again and hope to see all of you this summer! See you soon!