Leaving camp part way through

Can you leave camp if you’re homesick or don’t like it? Yes, but it’s a pain for everyone involved (you, us, your parents, your new friends), so we strongly suggest that you only come to camp if you are pretty sure you want to be there. In our 15 years (39 weeks) of running NBTSC, we have had about 20 people leave because of homesickness or just not feeling happy at camp. We do tend to support a camper’s decision to leave, even though occasionally parents would prefer that we be a little more forceful about keeping them at camp. If you do decide to leave, you will need to arrange for your parents (or someone else that they authorize, unless you’re 18 or older) to pick you up. If they can’t, someone on staff might be able to drive you into a nearby town to catch a greyhound bus -- you'll need to pay for gas and mileage costs. Sorry, but you don’t get any refunds for anything from us, because our expenses are already incurred.

Parents, if you think there is some question as to whether your son or daughter will be overwhelmed at camp and want to leave, you might consider driving him or her to camp and then staying in the general area throughout--or at least for a couple days.

What if you’re sick at camp? Can you leave? Do you have to leave? You can choose to leave (with your parents’ approval). All the same stuff applies to you as to homesick folks (above). (We have only twice had people leave camp because of sickness.) Also—unlikely but possible: if we feel that you are so sick or contagious as to endanger yourself or others, we may ask that you leave, and work out with your parents how that can best be facilitated. The most likely scenario in which this would occur (it never has) is if someone arrives at camp already sick, having failed to notify us ahead of time of their condition.

What if we send you home? It breaks our hearts, but most years, on average, approximately one camper is asked to leave. Past reasons have included: bringing and sharing and smoking marijuana, drinking alcohol, sharing prescription medications, having sex with another person, leaving the grounds all night, and a couple others. We do our best to make sure that no one leaves on bad terms and, believing in people's capacity to change and grow, we are almost always willing to start over with a clean slate the next year.

If you violate a major camp rule, then you and your family are responsible for all travel expenses and other responsibilities incurred. We generally require campers to leave the property within a few hours after we decide they need to go. Yes, it can cost a lot to change airline tickets at the last minute. Yes, it can be a major pain for a parent to immediately abandon their beach vacation to come get you early. Yes, it can be confusing and scary to make hotel reservations in an unfamiliar city. Obviously, it's up to you to prevent these possibilities from becoming realities.

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