Practicum

My experience at Victory Junction Gang Camp was one that I will always remember. Victory Junction Gang enriches the lives of children with chronic medical conditions or serious illnesses by providing life-changing camping experiences that are exciting, fun, and empowering, in a safe and medically-sound environment. Victory Junction Gang Camp proudly opened in June 2004.

In 1999, after participating in a motorcycle ride to Camp Boggy Creek in Florida, the Petty family, particularly Adam Petty, was inspired to build a camp in North Carolina for children with chronic medical conditions or serious illnesses. After the loss of their son Adam in 2000, Kyle and Pattie Petty were inspired to fulfill his dream.

As a volunteer at Victory Junction you get the opportunity to assist and participate in fun activities with the campers such as fishing, bowling, horseback riding, and archery. Being assigned a Crew Chief, my role was to serve as an ambassador of Victory Junction to the family (or families) that I was assigned to. That means welcoming them to camp, and treating them as part of the gang. More specifically, it means escorting them throughout their camp experience; providing information about the program, and interacting with all members of the family in a positive, appropriate and caring fashion.

My Family consisted of four the parents and two children. The main camper was 15 girl who was wheel chaired bound and suffered from spinal bifida. Spinal bifida is a developmental birth defect involving the neural tube: incomplete closure of the embryonic neural tube results in an incompletely formed spinal cord. She was a normal teenage girl who enjoyed socializing with the other campers.

During our weekend we attended activities that would be difficult for her to complete in a her daily life without the assistance of properly skilled individuals. She had the opportunity to feel as though she was able to do anything that a “normal” teenager her age would be...