April Showers

Continuing our “Meet a Counselor” series, this month we’re excited for you to get to know Calista “Callie” (Camper ’15-’21, TG ’22, Staff ’23-’25). Callie is our incredible Director of Dance who is spending her gap year in NYC completing a professional dance program. We’re thrilled she’ll be back at camp in June!

1. What are you up to these days?

I moved to New York City in September, taking a gap year after high school to complete a professional dance program! After camp, I will begin my freshman year at Northwestern University!

2. What’s your role at camp, and why do you like being a counselor?

I am a cabin counselor and the Director of Dance at Sebago Wohelo! Despite dancing intensely during the school year growing up, I never participated in dance at camp. Now, as Director of Dance at Wohelo, I have been able to merge my dance and camp worlds, bringing my dance knowledge and passion to Wohelo! Camp was transformative for me, and it’s so special to help cultivate the same Wohelo magic that I cherished as a camper. As a counselor, I am teaching the lessons I learned summers ago, witnessing the growth I worked toward unfold, and celebrating new accomplishments with another generation of Wohelo campers. It’s an added bonus that I get to do all of this while living at Wohelo with my best friends!

3. Can you share a favorite memory from camp? and/or What’s your favorite camp tradition?

There are so, so many, but I think the memories I hold closest now are of the more mundane moments that sprinkled my Wohelo experience. As a little camper, it was the stretch of free time on the playground after dinner; one summer, I spent nearly every evening battling a cabinmate in rock hockey tournaments—so intensely, in fact, that I snapped my stick and we held a funeral service. At Sebago Wohelo, I treasured the hour before Sunday Sivad in which my cabinmates and I would talk, sing, try to learn the ukulele, and lay all piled together on one wrinkle-free bed, cherishing each other’s company. 

I also think it’s worth sharing that while my camper years hold some of my most special memories and friendships, this past summer—my 10th!—brought an unexpected new friendship. I got to know and love a first-year counselor who had never been a camper (shoutout Maggie!), and she has become such an important part of my life. We’re beyond excited to return to camp together! I never anticipated meeting my best friend as a counselor—let alone after ten summers—but I did, and that experience is a true testament to the magical spirit of Wohelo.

4. What are you looking forward to this summer?

I wouldn’t be the enthusiastic dance director I strive to be if I didn’t give a shameless plug for Wohelo Dance 2025 :) It will be awesome! Also, I am saying this now to hold myself accountable: I will be a Big Dipper, I will swim for miles, and I will make a silver piece! I am thrilled to meet new campers and reunite with returning campers, and I’m so eager to be back in our little Wohelo community!

5. What elements from Wohelo have helped you in life?

Oh, where to begin!? I feel confident saying that Wohelo has played the biggest role in teaching me how to exist within and contribute to a community. I grew up in these summers—making mistakes, learning responsibility, navigating friendships, and ultimately shaping a vision of the person I now strive to be. 

Beyond the intrinsic value of a Wohelo experience, my summers at camp provided a source of consistency and direction throughout the many chapters of my life. Being able to return to the unchanging oasis of Wohelo every June was a privilege that I held dearly, and one I still take advantage of! 

I often share a small, slightly unpleasant anecdote that encapsulates the effect of a childhood at Wohelo. As a camper, I distinctly remember silently turning a blind eye to many clogged toilets, ultimately letting other campers, counselors, and our heroic maintenance crew to solve problems I could’ve tried to tackle. In the past two summers, I’ve found myself rolling up my sleeves, grabbing a plunger, and solving countless septic disasters within the Wohelo community. The plumbing knowledge Wohelo has granted me is useful, but the unwavering commitment to those around me, value of hard work and perseverance, and enthusiasm in tougher moments I’ve acquired from my time at Wohelo is invaluable.

6. Anything else you want folks to know?

I can’t wait for Year 11 :) See you all so, so soon!!