I’m always slightly taken aback when I see kids walking around or nearby a college campus. But then, of course, I remember that a college campus isn’t only a college campus, and that there are real, non-collegiate people who live in the neighborhoods where campuses are found. When people think of Rutgers-New Brunswick, they don’t usually think of children first. Instead, people mostly think of drunk, partying college students and red solo cups littered on green lawns. See, the tricky thing with colleges is that they are usually located in cities or towns, and these towns aren’t necessarily intrinsically connected with the actions of the university. By this I mean that more often than not, students and higher level administration will forget about the people who live in these towns and the fact that they are permanent residents, that this is their town, and that they don’t get to go “home” for summer and winter breaks.
In downtown New Brunswick, an area of campus that has a large mixing of college students and permanent residents, there is an organization called the Youth Empowerment Services (Y.E.S for short). It was through this non-profit organization that I got to learn more about the youth of New Brunswick and see what it can be like growing up in a huge college town that also has many of its own needs apart from the university.
Last summer I volunteered at Y.E.S helping out at their “Oasis” Summer Camp. I learned it was called “Oasis” summer camp because of the city’s need to support disadvantaged and at-risk youth. When I first met with the director of the camp, one of the first things he mentioned was the presence of 19 active gangs in the New Brunswick area, a fact that most people at Rutgers are unaware of. The camp, which runs five days a week for about two months, provides an opportunity for many city kids to do something productive and structured with their summer breaks while their parents go to work each day, and prevent further youth gang activity. Twice a week the camp takes the campers on field trips to different places around New Jersey, which allows for a fundamental learning and growing experience for city kids to be able to broaden their horizons outside of New Brunswick. The camp, which is funded mostly by grants and sponsorships, is an essential resource for the youth of New Brunswick.
The kids I worked with at the camp were not ordinary kids. They were some of the most independent and resourceful kids I’ve ever met. I found them to be very self-aware of who they are and of the world surrounding them. If they were missing a playing piece for a board game, they’d make do without it. We had access to one single playground, and they would invent all sorts of different games to play on it to stay entertained all summer. The best part of having been a camp counselor there was that everyone that worked there was a volunteer and truly wanted to be there. You could see this prominently reflected in the attitudes of the kids, who were always excited to come to camp. Though some days were tougher than others, a lot of the kids really just needed love and the support of counselors to stick by them.
Volunteering at Y.E.S was how I became introduced to the other side of New Brunswick that college students at Rutgers don’t often see. I got to meet an incredible group of kids who call New Brunswick their home, and who experience this city completely differently than I have in my short time at Rutgers. The kids would recommend different restaurants for me to try out around New Brunswick, and when we would walk around the city they would always point out the buildings where their parents worked with such a sense of excitement and pride to show me what their home means to them. And the next time you decide to throw out your red solo cup or beer can on somebody’s lawn, think of the kids who may have to wake up to that sight.