Students find adventures around every corner

Hello everyone! I had the opportunity to attend BYU Summer Scholars 2012 this year and it was amazing! This is the official article that's posted on our BYU Summer Scholars 2012 website: 2012summerscholars.wordpress.com. Clink on this link and read many other articles published by other high school and junior high students on BYU's online page. BYU's page is www.byu.edu and summer scholars website is above. Thanks for an amazing week counselors and professors as well as devotional guests! Especially to Sister Elaine S. Dalton for her outstanding lesson! Thank you BYU Summer Scholars!

Clarinis Purcell
Provo, Utah

PROVO — Pool parties and dollar movies keep most students busy during the summer months, but adventures at BYU have another option around every corner—youth camps.

More than 1,000 students ages 14-18 from all over the country fly or drive to BYU for activities here on campus. Camps include Summer Scholars, SOAR, EFY and Sports. Counselors and teachers prepare themselves for a great week with the students and great fun. With such opportunities for youth activities like these at BYU, students don’t have to be bored all summer staring at the television.

“It’s really fun to be here. I’ve learned so much, all these stroke techniques have been helpful to me,” said River Richards, a 13-year-old swimmer from Moab, Utah. “It’s fun to be an intrepid swimmer and to meet new people. It’s generally crowded, but once you know your way around, the area is easy to get used to,” said Richards.

Richards’ favorite thing to do is swim. She is just one of many numerous swimmers and is so far enjoying her week. There are other sports as football, tennis and dance going on also. Most students stay over night in the dorms and have classes during the daytime.

“It really is a great experience. Especially meeting new people and eating at the Cannon Center. Then there’s the Creamery, and nothing beats ice cream,” said Alec Hunsaker, a football player at the sports camp.

Each day, all the sports offered, would practice for about 2 hours and then have class for 1 hour and then lunch and dinnertime at the end. What a great week for the athletic students. Students grow physically and mentally and are able to share their abilities with others. Self-confidence is important and the youth programs offered for the summer are both educational and exciting.

Another camp is SOAR. What is SOAR? Many students around campus asked in confusion. Soar is short for Summer of Academic Refinement, a five-day college preparation program which enables students to interact with other students across the globe and learn the importance of education. Soar provides admissions and college success information, ACT preparation and an introduction to Multicultural Student Services. In addition to college and academic preparation, students are exposed to BYU campus, its community and opportunity. Students are then assigned a BYU student-counselor who serves as their mentor through the program.

“Soar was an extremely fun experience this week. It’s been a blast with the counselors and the new people that I met. I learned a lot and I won’t forget was I’ve learned this summer,” said Hyrum Purcell, a 17 year old student attending Soar this week from West Valley City, Utah.

EFY was another highlight camp of the week. It’s probably the most exciting also with a numerous amount of students out of state that come join others for an exciting week at BYU. EFY begins Monday afternoon and concludes early Saturday morning. Youth have the opportunity to learn and grow together while attending classes, devotionals, and firesides. Weekly highlights include dances, family home evening, game night, service projects, a musical program, a variety show, great and delicious food, and testimony meeting. Students that come to EFY benefit new friendships, gain lasting memories and strengthen testimonies.

Summer Scholars is another camp here at BYU. Students this week also make it known as “Nerd Camp.” In this program, youth are able to live on campus, participate in fascinating class discussions, attend inspiring devotionals and fun activities, and get to know a fantastic group of college-aged counselors and a fellow group of students.

Cati Strickland, a 17 year old from Nashville, Tenn., said, “It was really fun and I learned a lot, and I had a great experience. My highlight of the week was meeting new people and gaining new friends.” There are different classes like Forensic Science, Computer Science, Creative Writing and Journalism that are taught each day by college professors. They bring insight both mentally and spiritually into the academic portion of the class.

“It was the best moment of my life and I loved making new friends and developing relationships with the counselors,” said Danielle Makrush, a 17 year old from Caldwell, Idaho. “I encourage all who can to do this or any of the programs, because it truly is a great experience and it’s enjoyable too.”