Reminiscing on Summer
October 7, 2026 | By Julianna Maximo & Kai Chin
Debate Camp
Health care isn’t the first subject most middle schoolers would pick for their summer, and a few of ours made sure we knew it. The phrase “super exciting topic” came up more than once, and not always sincerely. Still, over two weeks in the summer, they dug in. Week one started with the basics: how health insurance works in the United States, and what stands between people and the care they need, whether that’s coverage, cost, or simply access. Alongside the research, campers practiced public speaking and each chose an elective to try something new: Varsity Debate, role-playing and rehearsing a show in Theatre, cultural exploration in Around the World, singing together in Gospel Choir, or writing and delivering a personal speech in Original Oratory.
In week two, the question shifted from “what’s wrong?” to “what could we do about it?” Campers looked at how other countries approach health care and weighed two proposals for the U.S.: Medicare for All and expanding the Affordable Care Act. They also got to hear from someone who helped build one of those options, MIT professor and Affordable Care Act contributor Jonathan Gruber, who stopped by for a guest lecture. Then it was time to argue. Varsity campers competed in full policy rounds before judges from our high school travel team. There was plenty of play mixed in, too: a scavenger hunt at the Museum of Science, Family Visit Day on Thursday with debates and camp awards, and Field Day on Boston Common with Capture the Flag, soccer, and Raising Cane’s for lunch.
On the first morning, our camp director, Ranner Faugas, told debaters what he hoped for them: that they’d learn about health care, grow as debaters, have fun, and, if we did our job well, leave a little different than they came. Looking back, I think a lot of them did. New friendships formed. Campers who swore they’d been “forced” to attend fell for debate anyway. And we heard them start asking questions without easy answers, about why our systems work the way they do and who they leave behind. At camp, students learn that you don’t have to be a grown-up to spot a problem, study it, name who it hurts, and make the case for fixing it. We hope to see many of them again this fall, when our middle school season kicks off at the beginning of November.
A Reflection from Student Facilitator Kai Chin
My experience as a student facilitator at the Boston Debate League camp was an environment of constant reflection, adaptation, and community building. The camp built an intentional space of community and reflection through every morning planning meeting and afternoon debrief in a way that I will seek to replicate in every leadership position I have in the future. The way we took time to go around naming the ‘addressable deltas’ of each day taught constant reflection and adaptation to the campers and naming our ‘pluses’ for each day was how we identified pride and improvement throughout camp. This process was a directed check-in each day that cemented not only my experience at camp but cemented the goals the BDL has of engagement, youth advocacy, and community building because every day we would interrogate how we could better meet these goals and how we have already. The way this intentional space fostered joy, community, and development is what I seek to replicate in every leadership position I hold and will hold in the future.
A large part of my own development throughout camp was how to strike a balanced relationship as a lab leader and a peer who wasn’t much older than many of them. At first I felt disconnected with many of the campers and unsure of how to navigate our dynamics but I soon realized that my age was my unique advantage. Although I felt awkward telling people two years younger than me what to do, that position allowed me to be able to easily understand the campers’ energy, engagement, and feedback. The only reason I was not the same disengaged student waiting for a lecture to end and the only reason I was not annoyed by the admin around me making decisions for me without me was because it was summer; not only could I easily put myself in their shoes but, once school starts, I am in their position. This meant I easily took the perspective of the student checking their phone every two seconds (although I hate to admit it, sometimes a lesson really is that boring), and adapted to what I see engages them in a way I wish teachers would have done for my class.
Being a peer-like leader to the campers was a superpower in fostering community as well. When I was on the same level as the campers, when we joked together and played together, is when I was able to truly gain trusted relationships with the campers, and later meant many of them were comfortable advocating for themselves and their friends to me. Although my age was what forced me to examine this dynamic between the students and I, how I fostered community with those I am leading is a lesson I will carry with me for the rest of my life.
The BDL camp’s goal of community building was exemplified in every morning meeting, whole-camp activity, and afternoon debrief when we closed out with a word. Someone in the group would volunteer a word to describe how they were feeling, and they would lead the close out by clapping to a beat that the rest of the group follows, slowly speeding up until they shouted the word in unison. This practice closed out every moment of progress with an intentional acknowledgment of development and community. Although I don’t have anyone to clap along with me since camp ended, I want to close out my own experience with a word to acknowledge how this practice encompassed the way camp uplifted us every day. The word I would choose for these two weeks is learning. It’s a basic and expected word, but I learned what it means to build intentional community and a space of constant development in a leadership role, invaluable lessons I will carry with me for the rest of my life.
