It always amazing me when someone who is not participating in an activity tells someone who is miserable doing that activity to “stick it out” because they may be that unicorn who wins an Oscar or gets a DNC internship. If that’s the standard, there are convicted felons who have won Oscars and gotten internships at the DNC.
It’s not a job; it’s an EC. And the BS experience varies hugely state to state; based on what OP has reported, nobody’s winning an Academy Award from the BS he’s at. His time will be better off spent doing something, anything else, than an experience where he’s miserable.
Growth can come from a lot of experiences. It is hard, but totally normal, to be very lonely at first. Many kids, maybe including OP, will spend their first week of college being surrounded by different types of people, and it can be helpful to have some prior experience with that. We can agree to disagree as to whether spending 72 more hours at a summer camp will ultimately benefit him. In any event, he likely decided already.
I think you missed the point about the potential benefits. An extraordinary essay can result from the most mundane of experiences-it did for the Oscar winner. It was not that his camp was anything special, it was how the story was told and how he chose to participate.
I tend to agree. Unless there’s something really bad going on, it’s best to stick it out. What are we talking about? A total of 5 days?
As a friend once told me when I had an obsessive habit of changing radio stations in the car when a song came on that I didn’t like, “you have to take the good with the bad.” Life ain’t perfect by a long shot, and learning to deal with things you aren’t too happy with (assuming nothing seriously wrong) is part of dealing with life itself.
Perhaps this is over the top for this particular issue, but Richard Nixon’s quote to his staff a few hours before his resignation as President became effective says it well, and it’s something that all should keep in mind, putting politics aside:
“The greatness comes not when things go always good for you. But the greatness comes when you’re really tested, when you take some knocks, some disappointments, when sadness comes. Because only if you’ve been in the deepest valley can you ever know how magnificent it is to be on the highest mountain.”
I’m all for "life is short, do what makes you happy " but it’s also important to give things a chance. This is a week long commitment. Very few things, even ones that are pleasurable, are the same throughout.
The OP sounds grounded, and while disappointed with the start of the program, will hopefully return at the end of the week to let us know how it all turned out.
I am a bit late to replying, but thank you all for your active discussion and advice! I ended up staying the week, made State Senate, and was almost elected Governor! Rather a hilarious situation, I didn’t even want to run but was drafted by others, and so went with it. I don’t regret going over all as it fell more in line with what I had envisioned later on.
Glad it worked out and good to keep in mind for next time-the first week of college, job, a new city- are often not reflective of the overall experience. Give it time.
I just went to New York’s Boys’ State program at SUNY Morrisville. At first I had the same struggles as you, and I’m glad you were able to overcome them. I found it a great way to break out of my shell a little bit, as you could be someone else than the person you are around your high school. I was elected to the state senate too, along with a court of appeals (New York’s Supreme Court) justice. We had marine NCO’s on site and it made the whole experience a lot more interesting (I’d argue for the better, as you could ask more direct questions and get new responses!). From the get-go when I was nominated by my school, I was told that this was an incredible opportunity, as out of every male junior in the state of New York, under 700 were selected to participate. I too was told that this program would look very good on college applications, and I am hoping to God that they’re right. I’m trying to get into Syracuse University, and I have the grades to possibly be accepted, but it’s incredibly expensive and would need aid to enter. Hopefully things like Boys’ State will help with that. Either way, even if Boys’ State doesn’t help with college at all, I don’t regret a thing and am very glad I went, as I made a ton of new friends and stay in touch with many of them. I encourage anyone who reads this to bring the Boys’ State program to your school district’s attention, as it is a very intriguing and rewarding program to all who give the effort to get involved. As my staff Sargent would repeat throughout the week; “lead, follow, or get out of the way… except the the last two aren’t options”.