The Ultimate Summer Camp: TAMU-CC Nursing Students Learn Valuable Lessons at Camp CAMP
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The sights of canoes on the Guadalupe River are a trademark of the summer season in the Texas Hill Country. The canoes dot the water at such a frequency it’s almost like looking at the stars above the skies of Texas. But on a small stretch of the Guadalupe, just off I-10 and to the southeast of Kerrville, you’ll find a sight that won’t just put a smile on your face, it’ll inspire you as well.
“Did you have a good time?” is what Juliane Mabilangan ’24, a nursing student at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, asked one of her campers as they returned to the dock following a trip down the Guadalupe. The smile on the young camper’s face answered that question clearly. In fact, a smile is the answer you’ll get most often when you ask any question about Camp CAMP, a getaway for children and young adults with disabilities.
Children’s Association for Maximum Potential (CAMP), located in Center Point, Texas, was established in 1979 by a group of U.S. Air Force pediatricians and other health care professionals. They initially brought together 32 children with disabilities, who had been turned away from other camps, for one weekend. Camp CAMP now stretches over multiple weeks in the summer and averages over 100 campers per week. The activities have grown to include arts and crafts, archery, water sports, and stable time with horses.
“This is the one time a year they can do all those fun things with people similar to them,” said Johanna “Dee” Evans ’04, ’19, the head nurse at Camp CAMP. “We don’t care about your diagnosis. We don’t care about your abilities. We are just here to have a good time.”
It’s a feeling Evans, who is also a clinical assistant professor in the College of Nursing and Health Sciences (CONHS) at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, knows all too well. She was introduced to the camp in 2005 when her son became a camper.
“He is non-verbal and handing him over to the camp was very difficult,” Evans remembered. “I asked if I could volunteer, and with a background in pediatric ICU, they were happy to have me.”
It didn’t take long into that very first camping trip for Evans to see the big impact the camp made in her son’s life.
“It was about Tuesday or Wednesday, and I saw him laughing and surrounded by friends,” Evans recalled. “I had never seen him surrounded by friends. So, it was a moment that told me this place is very special.”
In 2012, Evans would take over the job of head nurse at the camp. A new medical building, with bigger patient rooms, medicine dispensary rooms, and an outdoor deck would follow. And soon after, an idea would hatch that would have a big impact on nursing students at TAMU-CC.
Evans, the university, and the camp set up an official partnership where senior-level students could volunteer at the camp for a week and complete the majority of their clinical hours during that seven-day stretch. Nursing students not only hand out medication to their assigned campers, but they also partner with campers for various activities.
“After a week of doing certain nursing skills at Camp CAMP, I can gladly say that my confidence has gone up quite a bit,” Mabilangan said.
A week at camp also gives Islander nursing students a real chance to bond with their campers.
“Going to camp was a reaffirmation of my ‘why,’” said Paris Acevedo ’24, nursing major. “It’s easy to get caught up in all the assignments and stress and forget why you want to be a nurse. But then you see your skills in action and the joy it can bring. I feel like I am a better person and will be a better nurse after this camp experience.”
Students come and go from Camp CAMP, but Evans knows when they leave, they take more than clinical hours with them.
“I tell them on Sunday when they get here, if you are the same person on Friday then you missed the boat,” Evans said. “This place will change you for the better. It will make you a better person. It will for sure make you a better nurse.”
