While some people are looking for illegal ways to boost their chances of admission to their dream school, we have a much more inspiring, equitable, and legal idea to achieve that goal: activism!

Many YEA Campers over the years have shared with us that the activism that they’ve done following attending YEA Camp actually helped them get into more prestigious colleges than they otherwise would have.

Take, for example, former YEA Camper Madison Cole, who was recently accepted early decision on a full scholarship to Yale. We asked her if she thought her activism or going to YEA Camp helped with her admission and she said, “Yes, definitely!”  She wrote:

“I wrote one of my supplements about YEA Camp, and how immersing myself in a community of understanding, kindness, and tolerance changed my perspective on the world and restored my faith in humanity. And it pushed me to start my own organizations at school to stand up for what I believed in.

YEA Camp inspired me to start my own animal rights club at school, and we organized an all-school assembly in association with the environmental club last year to discuss the ethical and environmental impacts of animal agriculture.

“Fighting for these causes, and the eloquence with which I was able to discuss my ventures thanks to YEA Camp, allowed me to make my college application stand out. In discussing these passions, I was able to show to the schools that I am passionate and driven. It worked, and it helped get me into my dream school, Yale University.”

Every summer at YEA Camp, we help campers like Madison build knowledge, skills, confidence, and community. “A life-changing camp for world-changing teens,” YEA Camp helps campers overcome shyness and limiting beliefs, as well as hone valuable skills such as public speaking, networking, learning how to run an effective school club, plan a campaign, and fundraise for whatever causes are important to them.

Jake Johnson, a 2-time YEA Camper and 2-time staff counselor in training (CIT), has told us his before-and-after YEA Camp story many times.

He hated politics before attending YEA Camp, but got inspired at camp. Soon after, he actually interned on a Congressional campaign. As a 16-year-old, he also spent a week at Standing Rock, and as a senior he spent time volunteering to rebuild in Puerto Rico. Jake told us:

“I applied to my dream school [Loyola University Chicago], which has a pretty selective admission process, but honestly I didn’t have very strong academic records to help me get in. However, I had a lot of activism that I wouldn’t have done without YEA Camp, and I am convinced that without that activism, I would never have been accepted.”

And Jake may be right. When students get involved in activism at a young age, it shows colleges that they are engaged in and willing to contribute to their community, have strong leadership skills, can effectively manage their time, are responsible and well-rounded individuals, are go-getters and are more likely to pursue the issues that are important to them, and can overcome challenges and adversity.

Employers take note too. Jake recently let us know that when he applied for a position doing grassroots canvassing, because of his experience attending and being on staff at YEA Camp and the campaign work he did as a result, he was offered a  position not as an intro level canvasser but as a field manager — incredible for someone of his age!

Ethan Lyne, another former camper reached out to share the exciting news and thank us when he got into his dream school.

“College essays came easy to me because I could remember all the important memories from YEA Camp like it happened yesterday!” Ethan wrote.

“You all changed my life a couple summers ago. YEA Camp changed my focus in life and opened my mind to compassion and love for everyone. I have gotten into amazing colleges because I learned so much from everyone that one week in July many months ago and I couldn’t have done it without YEA Camp.”

Ethan is now involved in student government, local politics, and journalism at his dream school, Haverford College. He’s already played a huge role there as an activist. As a freshman, he organized shuttles to help students without cars to get to the polls to be able to vote on Election Day. Last year, Ethan was a leader in the successful campaign to get a polling place on campus — a huge accomplishment to increase voter turnout in such an important swing state. 

This is the type of impact activists can make on campus, and universities value it.

Of course, getting into a better college isn’t the reason to do activism. With so many problems in the world, making a difference in your community and changing the world around you is the reason to do activism.

However, if you are worried about your grades (like Jake was), know that your activism could actually play a bigger role in getting into your dream university — no bribes, Photoshopping photos and pretending to have played a sport, or cheating on your SATs necessary!

At YEA Camp, we strive to make our activist leadership training accessible for all — both for teens and for YEA Camp for Adults, regardless of socio-economic background. We believe everyone should receive an equitable chance to learn, grow, and succeed by their own merit, not their or their parents’ pocketbook.

Want to impress colleges or employers AND make a bigger difference in the world? Join YEA Camp this summer! If you’re a teen (or parent of a teen) take a look at our YEA Camp session dates and locations here. And if you’re over 18, you can’t be too old to attend YEA Camp for Adults!

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I’ve always loved animals, but until two years ago, I was part of the reason why they were tortured and slaughtered.

After finding out about the horrors of animal agriculture, I cut animal products out of my life completely, and as most new vegans tend to be, I was angry and passionate: a complicated mix of emotions. Aggressively commenting on YouTube videos and Instagram posts, calling people murderers, and yelling at those who would benefit more from education impacted those around me … and not in a good way.

It wasn’t until recently that I realized that in order to be a good activist in modern society, you must treat the people you are trying to persuade with kindness and respect. I joined activists groups, went to vigils, and tried my best to be one of the “good faces” of veganism, even though we all just want compassion and justice for all. Balancing my social life, school work, and small bits of activism seemed impossible, and it felt extremely discouraging to care so much about issues that I thought almost no one else understood. I wanted to better myself as an activist, but I thought that it was necessary to block out all of my fears and emotions about the world.

I was in the car with my dad a few months ago, and after one of my daily rants about the injustices towards animals, we got on the topic of summer camps. I wondered if there was a leadership camp involving veganism, so I frantically typed “vegan summer camp” in the Google search engine, thinking that nothing even close would appear. I found YEA Camp. It wasn’t strictly about animal rights, but that was one of the many social justice issues encompassed by campers and staff. I saw that YEA Camp attempted to create the kindest environment possible, and in order to do that, served strictly vegan food. After reading the description of this camp, I realized that it would be the perfect opportunity to better myself as an activist.

Since I’ve returned home from camp, a few of my friends have asked me what it was like, and every time I struggle to describe it. I hesitate and stutter, because my experiences were way too powerful and remarkable to put into words.

YEA Camp felt like a utopia. I was surrounded by people who not only care about the important injustices in the world, but who also want to do something about them. These people were so kind, and I always felt like my voice was heard. No one was excluded and everyone was treated equally and like they mattered. This place restored my faith in the world, helped me build my confidence, gave a sense of love and community, provided me with all of the skills and knowledge necessary to do great things, and so much more!

Not only do I have a specific action plan, and the resources to make more specific, attainable action plans in the future, but I have the self-confidence to go through with them! I’ve already started talking to my principals about my plans for the social justice club I am starting, and we got more than 50 signups at our first club day! I’m also going to participate in my third Cube of Truth with Anonymous for the Voiceless. I’ve also started practicing new self-care strategies to take care of myself. Because of the empowerment and knowledge that I gained from that week, I feel powerful enough to do more activism, and I know that we can change the world.

Eden Curtiss was a camper at YEA Camp Massachusetts in summer 2018. She lives in Nort Carolina and will be a junior this year. Because of inspiration from YEA Camp, Eden has started a social justice club at her school, is making more music about animal rights, starting vegan social media accounts, and doing more street activism.

The post Sixteen-Year-Old Vegan Regains Faith in Humanity After YEA Camp appeared first on YEA Camp.

YEA Camp is a summer leadership camp for teen activists.

Since 2009, Youth Empowered Action (YEA) Camp, a summer camp for social change, has been holding life-changing overnight camps for youth across the country. This summer, for the first time, YEA Camp will be holding a session in Southern California, in the beautiful Angeles National Forest.

Pressed by the current political climate, young people all across the country, and especially in California, are getting more and more engaged in social issues. They are walking out of school, marching in the streets, and making their voices heard on political issues. They are taking a stand against racism, homophobia, sexism, xenophobia, and in support of immigrants, equality, health care, the environment, and animal rights.

YEA Campers from all over the country attended Women’s Marches, the day after Inauguration Day.

Supporting activist-minded progressive teens is the whole reason for YEA Camp’s existence, and moving to a bigger location just outside Los Angeles will help YEA Camp serve even more young people.

At YEA Camp, young people ages 12-17 choose an issue they are most passionate about, what the camp calls their Issue of Importance (IOI), and throughout the week campers develop knowledge, skills, confidence, and community to help them make a bigger difference when they go home.

Campers have gone on to start school clubs to improve student self-esteem, rally and fundraise for organizations they support, go to Standing Rock, and so much more. In fact, YEA Camp recently successfully nominated 3 former campers for $1000 Pollination Project grants to help them expand on their food justice activism work, and all 3 were funded!

YEA Camp helps young people who know they want to make a difference figure out what to do, or to take what they are already doing to the next level. By the end of camp, everyone creates an action plan for what they intend to do when they go home. Check out many testimonials from past campers here. Here’s one we really love from 13-year-old rockstar YEA Camper Ananya.

YEA Camp’s California camp will be held August 6-13 in Wrightwood, CA, approximately an hour north of Pasadena.

In addition to the west coast session, for the sixth year in a row, YEA Camp will hold sessions on the east coast as well, with a camp in Massachusetts from July 9-16, and a camp in New York from July 23-30, a session especially for animal advocates.

“There is so much that each one of us can do to make a difference in the world,” said YEA Camp Founder and Director Nora Kramer. “It’s so inspiring to see our campers find their voice and get active on causes they believe in. We’re thrilled to be offering this session just outside Los Angeles and to be able to serve more campers than ever before.”

Space is still available for each session, though space is limited. To learn more about YEA Camp, visit www.yeacamp.org.

To learn more about YEA Camp, visit www.yeacamp.org.

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