At last, the bell rings (or for homeschoolers mom grades the last test) proclaiming that summer vacation has begun. The question arises, what to do this summer? For many young people part of the answer is going to take in the outdoors and meet new friends at summer programs. Today parents and youth search websites and brochures for music, sports, bible camps, etc. to find the perfect summer experience.
Thirty years ago, one of the first Catholic summer youth programs for high school students was founded at Magdalen College in Warner, N.H. Since 1975 the College has organized various camps and programs appealing to youth. As the camps matured into the Summer Youth Program the College designed a two-week session which gave the participants a taste of the unique common life that exists at the College.
The Summer Youth Program at Magdalen College gives young people between the ages of 15-18 an experience of living on a Catholic college campus for study, prayer, and recreation. While living in the college residence halls, participants study ethics, music, and catechesis, attend daily Mass, and enjoy sports, drama classes, and social events.
The students also spend time off campus in New Hampshire’s great outdoors. Several day-trips are planned for hiking in the White Mountains, swimming in the Atlantic Ocean, and canoeing on the Merrimack River. During a trip to the historic city of Boston, the students explore Little Italy, Quincy Market, and other tourist attractions.
Since 1990, the Summer Youth Program has evolved into an excellent admissions tool allowing prospective students to visit the College. In the summer of 1992 the number of applicants to the Summer Youth Program tripled and the College began conducting two sessions. One-fifth of the participants choose to enroll in Magdalen College.
Kat Gore ’08 from Lexington, KY describes her initial encounter with the Summer Youth Program. “When I finally decided to try the Magdalen Summer Program, I told my father that I would never go to school there. I wanted a college that had at least 2,000 students, and I wanted to be somewhere where palm trees grew because I hated the cold. My father told me that whatever I wanted in a college was fine, but this was just an activity for the summer. I can still remember getting off the airplane in Manchester, shaking from nervousness. What if no one was there to pick me up? Or what if the Program wasn’t for me? My fears went away or at least eased a little when one of the counselors picked me up at the airport. When I got to the College everyone who saw me greeted me, and the whole campus seemed so full of joy. Throughout the session as my trust and friendship grew with the counselors and other students it turned out to be one of the best experiences of my life.”
“My experience and all that I learned stayed with me throughout the next year which was my senior year in high school; so I decided to revisit the College. As soon as I got on campus and people flocked to say hello, I felt at home. My visit was great and went by so fast; I knew that Magdalen was where God wanted me to be.”
Beyond the recruiting benefits an important part of the Magdalen College Summer Youth Program is to open the hearts and minds of each young person to Jesus Christ. Through the summer sessions young men and women begin to think more seriously about their Faith and to discuss important topics which they encounter in their everyday lives as young Catholics in a modern world.
This summer, a new one-week session, the St. John the Evangelist Program, is being introduced. An enhanced academic session for older students, the session was created in response to veteran participants of the Summer Programs asking for more tutorial time to explore the Great Books tradition. Through specially designed classes led by College faculty, students will engage in the Socratic method of dialogue examining great thinkers such as Socrates, Augustine, Shakespeare, and Tocqueville. Sports, drama and music activities, and field-trips are also included.
Inspired by the example of the College students who are Summer Youth Program counselors and enlivened by the Summer Youth Program itself the young people leave, ready to be “the light of the world.” And they may even be ready to return to school in the fall!
For more information on the Summer Youth Program, please call Nyssa Garcia, Summer Youth Program Coordinator at 1-877-498-1723 (toll-free) or e-mail admissions@magdalen.edu.
