My experience 

When I was younger in school, I always found that people would pretend to want to be my friend and then later leave me out of things, pick on me, and make me feel isolated and alone in school. I never really made close friendships until I was in year 6, and I am still friends with some of those girls to this day. But, when I was in year 9, I got this opportunity to go to a camp called “Deaf camp” for people aged 14-17 who had any sort of hearing loss, who used any form of communication, to be able to connect with other people around their age, share experiences, and do everyday camping activities that people with hearing can do. I wasn’t sure about going, but I signed up anyway, as there was a limited number of people who could go, and we needed approval from the school. The school agreed for me to go, and I got accepted into this camp. A couple of weeks later, I went to the central coast for this week-long trip. I was very shy at first, because I was nervous that I was going to be an odd one out, and be the only person with a profound hearing loss; turned out I definitely was not. Within 10 minutes of arriving, I met this girl, who had hearing aids. I'm not sure what hearing loss she had, but we bonded immediately. We had some dinner and met a few other girls. Once we had had some dinner, we all went into the dining hall and got put into our rooms. This girl and this girl went into a room together, and there were a bunch of other girls there. We all settled and unpacked. Once we all unpacked and got set, we introduced ourselves and hopped into bed and just talked all night. We all seemed to bond and talked about our experiences being deaf, and talked about how we became deaf, what it's been like so far, and how hard it can be. I don't think I have ever felt so heard and understood by people my age. The weird thing was that we were all strangers, and we just bonded over our hearing losses. I especially bonded with this girl emily, and I am still good friends with her to this day. I have made so many friends from that camping trip that I went on once, and we are all still in touch and talk now and again. 

 

Throughout this camping trip, we did all different activities like hiking, canoeing, mountain biking, fishing, cooking, rock climbing, the big swing, and basically all of the camping things you do when you're in primary school and high school. Don't think I have ever made a camping trip with other people my age, so fun and interesting. This camping trip made me bond with people who understand what it is like to be bullied, picked on, and not be able to make close friendships with other people because of how frustrating it can get. These friendships I formed while being away at this camp changed my life dramatically, and I am so glad I decided to go on this trip, because I still am so close to a lot of those girls, and I love them so dearly. 

 

Looking back, the camp wasn't special because everyone was deaf. It was special because it was the first time I didn't have to explain myself. Everyone already understood. That experience showed me how important connection, belonging, and shared understanding are for confidence and well-being.