Hey guys, René here! I can’t believe it’s summer already and almost time for the start of camp! Whilst I am enjoying my summer in London, it does feel very strange not to be packing my suitcase and getting ready to make my annual 3 month visit to America and reunite with the camp family…
However, the main reason I will not be attending camp this year is because I have secured my first full time teaching position, which happens to be overseas in a country called Kuwait. If you are not particularly strong at geography (like yours truly), allow me give you some background information about the country that will soon be my new ‘home’.
Kuwait is a small country in the Middle East, about the size of New Jersey and shares a boarder with Saudi Arabia and Iran (it’s amazing how wide-eyed people get when I tell them the last part).
Although a small part of me is slightly apprehensive, for the most part I am extremely excited and feel similar to the way I felt before I boarded the plane to come to camp for the first time in the summer of 2014. New friends, food, culture, education system, the sense of unknown and in this case I will also try to learn a new language (emphasis on the word “try”). I feel extremely lucky to be presented with this opportunity and I guess that I am living proof that with hard work, ambition, a little luck and the love and support of amazing people, dreams really do come true.
To quote a phrase that someone very close to me once said “Always go the extra mile, because it’s never crowded.”
With that, I wish all of you the very best of luck and I’ll always be with you in spirit.
So until next time…. Yeah Yeah 😉
-René Leonce
Camp Alumni/Summer Staff 2013 and 2014
Rene with campers