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Hailey

 

Hi!!!

I’m Hailey (but feel free to just call me Hail or Hails!)

I grew up in the Chicagoland area and my family currently lives in a suburb called Oak Park which is a suburb directly bordering Chicago and is famous for its architectural history (The street I live on is actually named after Frank Lloyd Wright).

Since I lived right off the green line I got super used to Chicago Public transit! I took the train downtown often, took the bus to work, and even took my first ever solo trip to New York City from Chicago to New York via amtrak!

A person wearing glasses, a hooded jacket, and a cap takes a selfie outdoors, standing on wet stone steps surrounded by green foliage and a metal railing.
A woman wearing a face mask sits at a wooden desk on a talk show set with a gray couch and large windows displaying a city skyline at sunset.

Even though I love solo adventures, like camp, I have lots of friends and family back home who I am going to miss. I have a big Mexican family on my dad’s side and a lot of siblings at home with my mom. Luckily being a camp counselor makes me feel at home because I am used to both living with lots of people and being a big sister 🙂

While I grew up in more suburban areas, I currently live in central Illinois! I am a student at Illinois Wesleyan University studying Elementary education. Even though I am studying to be an elementary teacher, I have worked with all age groups and I currently do before and after school care with our local YWCA

A large group of people of various ages, including children and adults, gather closely together indoors near a decorated Christmas tree, smiling warmly for the camera.
Six people, including four girls and two adults, pose closely together for a selfie on a balcony with trees and greenery visible in the background. The girl in front is wearing a pink hoodie.

Since I am so used to city life, as soon as I started to experience the outdoors more I immediately fell in love! I spent the summer of 2022 at a different overnight camp as a counselor. It was truly one of the best experiences of my life. I am excited to experience it in a totally new way at Augusta.

My last employers were an inclusive camp that served children and adults with or without disabilities. I learned so much and hope to be able to bring all the things they taught me about inclusion to camp Augusta while also taking on a whole new experience to learn and grow even more!

A woman wearing glasses and a green Camp Bangarang Iowa & Illinois shirt takes a selfie in front of wooden bunk beds, holding up a dark-colored keychain labeled Bailey with tree icons.
A person wearing glasses and headphones playfully kicks toward the camera, holding a water bottle. They are outdoors in a leafless forest, and their foot is prominently in the foreground.

To prepare myself for camp I have been spending as much of my freetime outdoors as possible! Going on hikes, working weekend camps at the campsite close to my school, and exploring parts of my town I haven’t seen before. My school is only about an hour away from starved rock national park so I have made it my personal goal for this spring to visit once a week.

I haven’t gotten a chance to travel too much outside of my trip to New York and so coming to California for camp will be the longest I have ever been somewhere outside of Illinois.

I am not quite sure what my future holds for me and whether or not I will spend my long term in Illinois, out of state, working for camps, being a teacher, or something I can’t even think up just yet. All I know is that I want to keep challenging myself physically, mentally, and emotionally as much as I can and I think that Camp Augusta will be the perfect journey to do so! Can’t wait to meet you. 🙂

With so much love,

Hails.

A person wearing a red hoodie, glasses, and a plaid shirt gives two thumbs up while holding a blue face mask. Trees and a clear blue sky are in the background.