My Greatest Memories From Nat Geo Camp, But Not The Last…

Story by Jakarri Hodge. Photo by National Geographic Photo Camp.

From August 5-9, 2024, a group of students and I participated in National Geographic’s Photo Camp on a farm in Sabillasville, Maryland. The first day was lovely because everyone got to know each other and interacted with the animals. There was a mix of photographers, Friendship alumni who were in charge of the camp, and seventeen of us students. The goal of this experience was to teach youth about their history, experience life outside of DC, foster relationships with others, and shed light on how photography can capture all of that.

I made some of the best memories of my life in just a singular week. In August, I was just coming off of completing the Summer Bridge Program at Friendship Collegiate Academy and was supposed to be spending the rest of my summer at home, or so I thought. 

My mother called me into her room and told me, “Your teacher, Ms. Merritt, called me and told me that a photo camp opened up, but I told her that you didn't want to go.” I then hurriedly asked her, “Can you call her back and tell her that I want to go?” She told me to tell her myself, so I did. I eagerly told Ms. Merritt that I wanted to go—and the rest is history.

The people there were extremely welcoming and made me feel at home without noticing it, and I thank all of them for that amazing feeling. We took trips to Uptown DC, Gettysburg, and Sabillasville, and every day was a new experience with people I barely even knew. But now, time to dive a little deeper…

New people, new faces, new places but yet I still felt at peace to get out and explore the world that I’ve been eager to be exposed to. I stepped onto the bus, unknowingly stepping into a new world where I could be my true self around other people. I saw so many new faces on the bus; there were about 20 to 25 of us, including three people I already knew, Antoine, Zariah, and Jerimiah. It was a long and bumpy ride to what I didn't know would be a farm instead of a regular facility. It was nice seeing and taking pictures of all the animals.

I got to my room with my roommates, Antoine and Jerimiah, and we were all excited to be there. Once we all finished unpacking our bags, everybody got called into a classroom so we could all get a chance to get to know each other. After that, we spent some time together by the fireplace outside, and that was very fun and enjoyable. By the end of the day, we all spent some more time together, but were separated on different floors by gender. 

We usually spent our time separated in groups whose names were colours. I was a part of the yellow group, which consisted of 4 people (including me). We kept these groups for whenever we would go explore or whenever we would do group activities. Sometimes these groups would change depending on the activity, but for the most part, they stayed the same, and we were fine with that. Most of us were just happy to be able to be out of DC for a “vacation”.

Everybody usually spends their night conversing with someone. Everyone was friendly and talked about their life up until then. Or, we would all get into one big group and play board games or spend time listening and dancing to music with each other. Most importantly, everyone got along with each other, and we all made the best of the experiences during the week we had  together.

It was a wonderful experience overall, and I felt at peace because I got to explore part of the world with people I now consider my family. If you were to ask me if I would do this again, I’d tell you a thousand times yes, and you should too.

Jakarri Hodge is a freshman at Friendship Collegiate Academy.