Student helps kids make connections, heal through camp

Tommy Lopez

Contributing Writer

On the final night of a weekend at camp, children swarmed around the bonfire in the middle of the campground.

Joyous singing erupts among “little buddies,” the campers, and their “big buddies,” the counselors.

Ashvin Sood, a freshman psychology major and camp counselor, watched as the campers take the notes they have written to their lost loved ones and released them into the fire in an exercise to honor the dead.

Sood attended Comfort Zone Camp for the ninth time earlier this month at a campsite on the James River. He said the camps, which are held at camp grounds from California to New Jersey and from Texas to Virginia, are set up to help children cope with their losses.

“(Camp counselors) give kids an opportunity to have a break from reality,” Sood said.

The children learn different ways to handle their past and they get the chance to bond with both their big buddies and other kids who have similar past experiences, he said.

“Once you go through a loss you can feel really left out. These kids learn how to grieve and can feel connected to others,” Sood said.

Sood, a Richmond-born graduate of James River High School, said he first heard about Comfort Zone Camp through his mother, who was a psychiatrist at the camp.

Sood, known as “Ash” by his friends, was a junior counselor at his first camp during his sophomore year of high school.

“I’m so glad I got involved,” Sood said. “There are great relationships that are created from this experience.”

Along with the bonfire finale to the camp, healing circles are organized to have the little buddies discuss their losses with the counselors and psychiatrists, according to the camp’s website.

But the whole weekend is not centered on serious subject matter. Activities that allow the campers to have fun are important to the mission of Comfort Zone Camp, states the website.

“We want these kids to have fun at the camp because many of them don’t have the opportunity to have fun when they go back home,” Sood said.

Campers and counselors participate in rock climbing, canoeing and challenge course activities throughout the weekend, Sood said. The little and big buddies eat meals together, sing and make S’mores, and do team building and other trust-based activities.

“We want the little buddies to feel welcome,” Sood said. “When the kids have fun they relax and stop focusing on some of the other things going on in their lives.”

Freshman and Biomedical Engineering Major Alex Ratti also became a counselor at the camp with the help of Sood.

Ratti said he believes Sood’s enthusiasm contributed to his own experience.

“Ash was extremely energetic through the camp and he was always there to give advice or offer help and encouragement,” Ratti said.

During karaoke one night, Ratti said Sood ran up to the front of the room to sing Beyonce’s “Single Ladies.”

“He spent the entire time dancing with his little buddy and encouraging others to come up and join him,” Ratti said. “He really went all out for it.”

Sood said he plans to be a psychiatrist in a developing country later in life, and enjoys helping the campers realize they do not have to live life distant from the rest of the world.

“My favorite part is always relearning the lesson that no one is alone,” Sood said.

The big buddy counselors are 18 and older. Sood helped organize a counselor-training seminar in January, which 45 people attended. He said he plans on organizing another session on the VCU campus next fall.

If interested in learning about how to become a counselor, or the dates of future camps, visit comfortzonecamp.org.