My Envision Experience

Envision is a STEM camp where kids all over the country from 5th through 10th grade come together to learn about 4 different fields of STEM: Forensic, Robotics, Medical and Engineering. You stay at a college for 1 week and do a plethora of labs using the four sciences listed above. I was nominated for this by Mrs. Stegner in Mathletes along with a few of my Mathletes friends. I had the honor of being accepted to go and experiencing the camp first-hand. This is my experience at nerd camp… I mean Envision STEM camp.

June 27, 2021: Orientation day

I woke up very nervous about camp. I was the only East Rockaway kid going. I’m not gonna know anyone. I’m gonna be all alone. I was freaking out the whole car ride. My mom gave me some encouraging words and that helped me a lot. We arrived at St. Johns University at around 2:00 pm. We went over to the check in desk with negative test results in-hand, ready for a week of adventure. She led us down to get our camp stuff but she led us wrong and we waited in line for an hour and ended up with nothing. We found the right line and got my stuff in 20 minutes. I went to meet my group and said goodbye to my parents. All we did was talk about ourselves and learn about each other. Then we had dinner before I went home. They had a HUGE buffet of sandwiches, pizza, salad, chicken tenders, etc. It was so good. Most students from out-of-state were staying there for the week, but since I only live 30 minutes away, I was a day student, meaning I was driving back and forth everyday. So after the meal, I was picked up and prepared to start my first real day of camp.

Jun 28, 2021: Day 1 Getting to Know You

I awake to “On Top of the World” by Imagine Dragons at 7:00 am. I am dressed in my camp uniform (Navy or white tee with khaki pants) and off we go to get there before 9. When we are separated back into our galaxy groups we meet our counselor and he tells us about what the group is going to do all week. His name was Christopher but we all called him Chris. We were Galaxy Group D. We were the forensic science group along with Group C. We spent most of that morning discussing different ideas for our group presentation on Thursday. Every group was either doing a poster board or a quick demonstration. We however were a creative monster and decided we wanted to do a play. So we came up with a murder scenario to act out. We then went to lunch. After lunch was rec time. We hung out outside but it was 92 degrees so it was excruciating. We played a giant game of dodgeball which was fun. We then did a small practice crime scene to prepare for tomorrow’s activity. We then ate dinner and I headed home.

June 29,2021: Day 2 The Crime Scene

I wake up the same way as the day before. When we get there, we are left without a counselor for a little while as he went to finish setting up the crime scene. We played a game called secret jedi. You stand in a circle with a person in the middle. You have to make eye contact with a person across the circle and switch spots before the person in the middle takes one of your spots. Not really important but it was a lot of fun. After that we got to walk around the crime scene. There was a body outline, wheel marks (which was strange since the scene is inside a home), a bubble gun to represent a gun, and bullet case stickers. There was also a bloody string and a bloody tennis ball. It was really cool. We walked around, drew out the crime scene, and came up with some ideas as to what happened. We then had lunch and rec time. Then we went back to it to come up with a final idea. We thought a disabled man in a wheelchair got shot. We were right about some things but he didn’t die of a gunshot wound since there were no bullets around him. He was a disabled man and he was getting shot at but then his wheel hit the tennis ball making him fall out and he was strangled with a string. Why? I don’t know but it was still a fun experience. We then went to dinner and I went home. 

Jun 30, 2021: Day 3 Robots and Heat Waves

I arrived to a different classroom than usual, filled with bandages and medical supplies. We were split into groups and given a book on how to do something. We learned how to make a neck brace. I was a bandager and my friend I met there, Julian, had a neck brace on. We also learned how to hold someone if they hurt their leg or back. Very interesting and my second favorite activity. We did this until lunch. When we arrived back in our classroom, the whole room was filled with the LEGO vex robots. There were also tapped out courses for them to travel on. We were given a pre-built robot that my group named Fred. We practiced driving him and then we learned how to program him. We didn’t get to finish cause we had rec time. As we were heading out, we were given an alert on our phones to stay inside and turn off all power because of the heat wave. It was 97 degrees out. Sitting in a hot classroom with 20 kids and no AC. It was torture until we had to walk to dinner in the heat. The dining hall was freezing. It felt so good. I then went home to prepare for the longest day of camp. 

Jul 1, 2021: Day 4 Astronaunts and Murder

This day I woke up very tired because it had been a long week so far. I took a nap in the car ride there which was nice. An extra half hour of sleep isn’t much but it felt like a lot. That morning we had a guest speaker. I got to meet a real astronaut named Dr. Don Thomas. He’s a former astronaut who took part in 4 shuttle missions and spent a total of 44 days in space. It was very interesting hearing what space is like but also confirmed I never want to go to space. You have to be strapped down while you sleep, use the bathroom, and eat because there is no gravity. Does not sound like the place for me. That took up the whole morning so we only had after lunch to work on our play for our group project. We worked on it all afternoon. I ate dinner with all the people doing the play and afterwards we got to perform it. We did it 4 times and I had so much fun. The hardest part about it was trying not to laugh and trying not to laugh at the audience’s reaction. I went home very tired at 7:45 pm, not ready for the next day. 

Jul 2, 2021: Day 5 Saying Goodbye

I woke up with a feeling of sadness knowing I would have to say goodbye to all my new friends. I got there for the last time right before 9 and started to count down the minutes. We leave at 11 and no one lives near me. We started the morning by handing out certificates for completion of the camp. We clapped and cheered as our group mates went up to grab their certificates. We then played one last game of silent jedi. At around 10:30 am, a counselor came around collecting kids who flew through Envision. I had to say goodbye to one of my new friends. I got his snap and we still talk on a regular basis. After he left I got all my new friends to snap and made a group called D Best Galaxy Group. Get it? Cause we were Galaxy Group D. At 11 they moved us to the cafeteria and my mom came and got me. I said a sad goodbye to all my new friends and drove back home.

After Thoughts:

I had so much fun at this camp. It wasn’t all smart, nerdy outcasts. They were cool people. Theater kids, popular kids, jocks and yes some nerds like myself. I meet so many cool people and recommend this camp to everyone. Even if you’re not a huge fan of science you will have fun. Thank you to Mrs. Stegner for the amazing opportunity and I hope this isn’t the last time an East Rockaway kid visits this amazing camp.

*https://www.envisionexperience.com/explore-our-programs/national-youth-leadership-forum-explore-stem