Hello! My name is Ian and my favorite pictures of me are the ones capturing me in a silly or inquisitive mood. I also love a picture as a memory of a feeling, such as finishing a four-day hike to Glacier Basin, Watermelon Day with my best friend Skye, scavenging summer blackberries or befriending a team of baby goats at Smythshire farm!
I turn 30 this summer, and I am thrilled to be exploring Augusta for the first time as I close out this section of my young adulthood. Summer camp has been a pillar of my life since I was an anxious 8-year-old heading off to Y camp in 2004. I studied elementary education at Western Washington University, and have continued my passion for serving youth through summer camp, outdoor education, theater arts, and afterschool enrichment.
I have spent several years of adulthood traveling between various magical spaces (camps, Boys & Girls Clubhouses, schools, theaters, and outdoor facilities) sharing joy, silliness, creative movement, improvisation, musicality, poetry, writing, ecological curiosity, and artistic and athletic uses for fruits, all while engaging in creative problem-solving, program development, conflict resolution, pandemic-fueled reconfigurement, rebuilding, and—my favorite of all—staff coaching. When I am at camp I am serving not only the kids but the incredible, generous, energetic young adults working every minute to serve their campers. I don’t imagine my work will ever stop, as there will always be young people out there in need of strong role models, silly entertainment, and help navigating the complexities of life.
I look forward to many moments of discovery and exploration at Camp Augusta, to those moments where I am suddenly lost in the natural setting and look around to figure out where I am and how I got there.
I want to see new birds that confuse and mystify me, to be incorrect in trying to identify a certain tree or a tiny flying bug that l have never seen before. I anticipate a moment when a camper shares with me a core memory of Augusta and I don’t recognize half of what they say due to being riddled with inside jokes, Augusta-specific terms, and the names of people who I have never met. Each camp is a blank slate to those entering, and I eagerly await the chance to both make my mark and be forever marked by my time at Camp Augusta.
If all goes well, I will leave this summer with new pictures (photos and memories) capturing me in a silly or inquisitive mood, capturing new feelings and mistakes and ponderings and experiences from my life-changing summer.
