A Day in the Life of a SERVE Camper: Emil’s Long Days, Lasting Lessons
By Emil Rivera ‘25
Each summer, Fiver’s SERVE program offers our oldest campers—those in years 9 and 10 of our 10-year journey—a chance to experience camp through a new lens. In their final summer, SERVE participants take part in an extended four-week experience that includes leadership development, reflection, and a camp-based internship aligned with their interests and goals. From co-leading cabins to supporting activities across camp, SERVE members gain real-world insight into responsibility, teamwork, and service.
In the piece below, 18-year-old Emil Rivera—a Manhattan native from Washington Heights spending his final summer at Camp Fiver—shares what a typical day looks like as a co-counselor supporting younger campers. His words capture not only the energy and structure of life at camp—but also the spirit of growth, mentorship, and full-circle impact that defines the Fiver journey.
Waking up at 6:50 am isn't a norm for me. I’m used to staying up all night with my cabinmates and waking up right before we line up to go down the hill. But things are different this time as a co-counselor. I start my day early to serve as an example to other campers that we must wake up and get ready. I go straight to the bathroom, brush my teeth and then go to my silver cabin and tell them to hurry up before it's time for our lineup song to be played. The night before, we assign jobs which include the clothesline, sweeping, turning off the lights, waiters and more. Being a co-counselor comes with way more responsibilities because not only do I have to look after my own brothers, I have to make sure I have all 8 of my campers! We proceed to go down the hill and sing our signature song, “Everywhere we go”.
Here comes breakfast! For the first time, I have to sit with the younger campers and leave my friends behind. Having the youngest campers can be pretty difficult because not only are they small, they sometimes lack basic manners. Our counselor Joshua and I serve them after our two waiters the food to the table. Luckily, they aren't picky and all eat the food given! After breakfast is over, while the rest of my cabin goes to the pavilion, I stay back with the two waiters and help them clean since it's their first time. To cut them some slack, I help them a lot and teach them so when they have to be waiters again, they won't have any trouble.
We then head to the pavilion and go through our morning announcements. This includes the thought of the day, word spelling, handshakes, and talking to Mr. P, our mysterious weatherman! My specialty as a SERVE II member involves sports for the first 3 periods. I’m open to anything and love running till my feet fall off. I bring the energy and try to be a great example for all the LEARN cabins.
After sweating bullets in the burning hot sun, we head to the dining hall porch and wait for the bell to ring for lunch. We line up once again and here comes the much needed lunch. After the seconds bell rings, we get to singing our favorite songs. On the first couple days, it wasn't easy watching my first year campers sit there confused, but now they sing to the top of their lungs and are filled with Fiver spirit. As soon as we're done singing, we go through shoutouts and clean sweeps. Leadership goes into both units and determines if each cabin is clean enough to receive points for battle of the units. For the most exciting part, Golden Plunger! Our 15-16 year old campers in both units have to clean our bathrooms every morning, and see whose bathroom is cleaner!
After some delicious lunch, I help the waiters once again and then head to the lake or pool. I honestly like the pool much more but they are both enjoyable! To each their own. Thankfully, here comes rest and reading. We head up to our cabins and either rest or read for an hour. No sports or playing around. I then have off and relax in the Serve lounge. For the last period, I have Graduate Institute with Jimena where we speak more about my life after high school. Then, it’s time for dinner. During dinner, we sing our favorite camp songs again and compete for Fiver spirit! We sing as a group to become the loudest and best cabin for the day!
After my free time duty at the basketball court, the most exciting part of our day, the evening activity! Time for a unit campfire where we sing camp songs in our units and eat s’mores….yummy! Before we know it, it’s time for my Silver campers to go to bed. They shower and get ready for bed and lights out at 9:30. I am then free and shower to finally enjoy my off time in the SERVE lounge.
My day starts early and ends late. Fiver is filled with many different activities and you will for sure be drained by the time you go to bed. This year may be a little different for me, but I must make the most of my time here and make sure all these kids have the same experience I have. A day in the life of a SERVE member is long but I wouldn't change a thing about it!
