Reflections on a Mathcamp

[fclbrokle]

This summer, I visited Mathcamp for two weeks. It was the first time in ten years that I haven't been there for the full five weeks; the first time in thirteen years that I have not been to an academic summer camp for its full duration. In my previous ten summers of Mathcamp, I missed a grand total of two days that I was eligible to attend (for a

Comments

[leech]

I thought your speech made its intended points clearly, though perhaps the intended audience didn't get them.

I feel almost exactly the same as you do; my problem is that I'm not continuing in mathematics or education, and therefore can never commit myself thoroughly to Mathcamp without it being a distraction from my career. But these are issues I'll have to figure out as I go along.

[fclbrokle]

Yeah... but then again, an argument I've often made for JCs is that, at some point, they have to accept that part of the reason they're doing Mathcamp is because it is an end in itself.

Still, I agree with the difficulty in figuring this out.

[leech]

It certainly is an end in itself for JCs, but they're also getting a lot more out of camp than I am in terms of personal growth. Staff who are in their first 2-4 years make massive gains to their organizational, interpersonal, and pedagogical skills. For me, I suspect the marginal benefit of one more year is much smaller. (Though of course I do always learn new things, even after N years, because Mathcamp is like that!)

No, what I get out of camp is more the morale boost of getting to work with such outstanding, competent, and fun people. Which is very worthwhile, but is it worth punching a hole in my summer where I don't get any "real" work done? It's unclear.

[fclbrokle]

Very true --- I absolutely see what you're saying.