The next post in our guest blog series— Moe!
As a reminder…
In “Stories with Scatico Senior Staff”, we’re going to have different members of Senior Staff serve as guest blog post authors to share lessons, musings, or connections between their life outside of camp to their life in it. Our hope is that this series serves as a little taste of the 12523 during the school year, and helps you learn more about the people who help make Scatico… Scatico!
My name is… Moises “Moe” Torres .
A “famous” photo of Moe at Scatico as a kid! While Moe was not a camper, he went to Scatico through FYI— a Washington Heights-based, youth development nonprofit— that would use Scatico’s facilities for an off-season retreat!
My first summer at Scatico was… 2013.
My first summer on Senior Staff was… 2016.
When I’m not at camp, I’m… in charge of the After School English Department at Wonderland Academy in Prague. I also play Semi Pro Basketball in Prague.
At camp, I’m… Assistant Head Counselor on Boys Side. I’m also a trip leader for the Sooper/ Upper Senior trip to the Dominican Republic.
My favorite camp event is… The Nat.
So, to follow up on Jamie’s heartfelt post about how she shares a piece of camp in her classroom...
To make a long story short, like many of you may know, I have had a-- what some would call-- diverse camp career. Starting at Maintenance in the summer of 2013, I was initially supposed to go to camp with friends, but in the end went alone. This made me very concerned and anxious because of how close everyone was, and feeling like people already knew each other from previous summers. But something that stuck with me was all of the amazing stories I had heard from my older brother, Amauri, whose first summer at Scatico was 2000. He always talked about how camp was so special to him because of the long-lasting friendships he made during his, "summer away from NYC”. I gave Scatico a try.
During that first summer, despite being home sick at times (even as an adult), someone who helped me get through it was a former camper/ counselor. One day, he saw me working maintenance around camp and struck up a conversation with me. We found out that we had a lot in common, especially discovering that if I had gone to Scatico as a kid, we would have been in the same division. After the conversation he invited me to play pick-up basketball along with his friend, and after winning the game I got their permanent stamp of approval.
For those curious about who the person was, it was Quinn Hood, along with his former bunkmate Eli Rousso (Upper Seniors in 2009). Little did they know, but in that moment with them just including me in a simple game of pick-up, it made me want to keep coming back to camp. Throughout that summer, I created long lasting memories, and this has continued each summer I’ve been back (on Maintenance, running the Girls Hill, going to the DR, and now, as Boys Assistant HC).
Moe has always been famed for his 4th of July flag cape!
To wrap it all up, something I share with kids at school and at camp, is the importance of inclusivity. Whether it be cheering on a bunkmate in a baseball game, which can start a 14-run rally when down 7-0 (as last summer’s winning Kenmont Baseball team can attest to) .... Or even something as simple as having someone new join in a conversation. A small gesture, can make a big impact.
The epic Kenmont comeback.
Kicking off a basketball activity.