Eggs, slime, and the virtual camp experience

Medical student Katie O'Connell, MS helped bring the fun of Camp Discovery to children at home.

Katie's story

Because of COVID-19, my medical school pediatrics rotation was shifted to online. I was heartbroken as I had waited all year to work with kids in person, but virtual Camp Discovery provided me everything I was missing, and more. Some of the campers I met had attended Camp Discovery for the past eight years and shared how grateful they were to the AAD for quickly adapting and hosting camp online. They shared how important camp has been for them as they have grown over the years and how it has helped them in learning to navigate living with various chronic skin conditions.

I also had the opportunity to plan virtual Camp Discovery Texas. Each day we hosted an activity before splitting into “cabin time,” where campers could bond and catch up with one another after not seeing each other for a year. When we played Two Truths and a Lie, it was clear that everyone was very close and could easily catch the lie, saying things like “I know you play the trumpet not the trombone!” One day, we all made slime together, and some of the younger ones said it was the first time a slime recipe they made actually worked. On the final day of Camp, as is tradition at Camp Discovery, winners of the various games and activities throughout the week could choose Counselor Consequences. I was chosen not once, but twice, to egg myself in the face!