Meet the Staff

Co-Chairs

Vatsal “Snaps” Patel
Ello mates, my name is Vatsal, vat, vats, or as many know me as…snaps! I’m a 4th year neuroscience major, and I hope to one day go to medical school! My favorite thing at camp is just talking with campers. I especially love joking around with them and just seeing them laugh from all the goofy things we as counselors do. My favorite memory from camp was when my campers woke up delirious from their sleep and we would be scrambling to get to the dining hall in time for breakfast, I’d constantly make sure they had their shoes on by saying “shoes?! shoes?!!shoes?”. All of the campers would laugh because of how concerned I was with them finding their shoes. Remixing old camp songs is super fun too!

 Mark “Whoops” Burka
Hey hey hey there, my name is Mark, Markus, Markymark, Marquis but I am much better known as WHOOPS! I am a 3rd year Economics and Communication Disorders Major and hope to have a career in Finance! My most favorite thing about camp is playing “Splat” with all the campers. That game can go on forever and never get tiring. I also love COLOR WARS!!

Fundraising

Nikki “Jersey” Tracy
My name is Nikki Tracy, but during camp I go by Jersey… I am a 3rd year Cognitive Science major and am one of the Fundraising Co-Chairs for Kesem this year.  My favorite thing about camp is color wars and being able to play all the camp games with the kids.  It’s awesome to see how excited all the kids are to be there!
Nikki  ”Nala” Turner
My name is Nikki Turner, but at camp I go by Nala.  I’m a 2nd year planning to earn my bachelor’s degree in psychology and master’s in elementary education. My favorite thing at camp is playing captain’s coming!! I love getting to know the campers and seeing them have as much fun as I do!
Admin & Camp Programming

Christine “Scrubs” Hou
Hey, friends! My name is Christine and I’m a 3rd year neuroscience major, hoping to one day become a doctor for the mini humans (a pediatrician!). In my free time, I like to attempt to make macarons, learn how to play guitar (emphasis on the learning), visit the farmer’s market, watch quality TV shows, such as “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo”, and play sand volleyball with my friends. My favorite thing about camp is cabin chat because our campers are fantastic and will spend this time talking about anything and everything — from telling ghost stories to sharing our most embarrassing moments. I cannot wait for camp next year!!

Matt “Swift” Dunham
Waddup ya’ll! My name is Matt aka Swift and I’m a fourth-year Government major. My dream is to be a high school teacher later in life but in the meantime I would love to work in federal consulting or education policy…or go to grad school and put off all that real world stuff for a little longer! I love everything about Camp Kesem but FOB (Feet on Bed) time is definitely a highlight — I had a playlist of songs ready to play for my campers but they proved to be much cooler than me when they complained about the lack of dubstep. I can’t wait to plan an even bigger and
better camp experience next year!

Al “Ping Pong” Koroma
My name is Ping Pong and I am sad. I did not submit a description.

Student Support

Kathryn “Gypsy” Yates
Holla. My name is Kathryn but better known as Gypsy. I’m a fourth year Biology major with a Specialization in Environmental and Biological Conservation. Some of my favorite things to do are waterski, read, and go see live music! My favorite thing at Camp Kesem is probably Messy Olympics because the campers get to pie us in the face. I especially love camp songs because we just get to be weird!

Jordan “Goldfish” Bills
Hi everyone! My name is Jordan, or as I prefer to be called, Goldfish! I am a 3rd year majoring in speech pathology & audiology and hope to work with kids one day as a speech-language pathologist! (I just love kids too much so I had to make it my career!!) My favorite things about camp are cabin chats and cabin free time…I love spending time with my campers and getting to know them even more! It is also great to watch them become such good friends over the course of the week :) I can’t wait to see all the campers again next year!!
Camper Care
Colleen “Pickles” Gallagher 
 My name is Pickles. I am sad. I did not submit a description.
Susie “Snoopy” Dixon
Hi everybody!  My name is Susie Dixon or “Snoopy” (since I’m obsessed with Charlie Brown and the PEANUTS gang). I am a third-year Speech Pathology & Audiology and Psychology double major.  Outside of camp, I love to hang out with friends, read, write, and sing!  I sing along with the radio, in the shower, in the rain… and I LOVE to sing camp songs!  My favorite camp songs are “the Penguin Song,” “the Moose Song” and “Get Loose!”  In addition to the songs, my favorite things about camp are field games, cabin chats, waterfront, and cabin dance parties!  I’m so excited to get to know Camp Kesem campers and families—new and old— better over the course of this year; and I’m already looking forward to another great week of camp in the Summer!

 

Public Relations/Social Chair
Amanda “Maple” Monahan
Hey friends! My name is Amanda, otherwise known as Maple.  I am an Economics and Psychology major and I hope to one day go to law school.  I really enjoy running, reading and anything outdoors.  My favorite thing about camp is definitely the refrigerator hike (I overcame my fear of small spaces, wooh!) and singing camp songs.  And of course hanging out with campers all day everyday!
Bhaumik “Bowflex” Patel
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