Hamilton Wasnick came to Auburn from Seattle, Washington as a freshman, moved up as a counselor and now pursues his last summer before his senior year as a head counselor for Camp War Eagle.
Wasnick,
While still a freshman attending camp war eagle, Wasnick recalled people telling him he could be a counselor.
“I was reading into the Camp War Eagle program and it talked about being a servant leader and serving others,” Wasnick said. “That’s when it hit me, the job is more or less you get to be a servant for the freshman. What that looks like is being somebody’s first genuine connection at Auburn, that’s like an actual student here.”
There is a long training process to become a counselor and Wasnick said that to really benefit from camp you have to be willing to put some work into it.
“We talk about a sound mind, a sound body and a spirit that’s not afraid,” Wasnick said. “ … When you invest those things into the program, you get a lot more out of it.”
Wasnick said he was excited to share his experiences with incoming freshman.
“You have the opportunity to be somebody's first like ‘hey I live on campus, I’ll hang out with you, I want to help you with what you’re going through’,” Wasnick said. “And to
Wasnick has experienced a lot outside of Camp War Eagle during his past three years at Auburn University. Ultimate Frisbee drew Wasnick in from the start.
“I grew up playing ultimate frisbee in Seattle and I knew that Auburn had a team that was pretty good,” Wasnick said. “My senior year of high school they made nationals for the first time, and I was like ‘ok a nationals level team’, but I didn’t really know much other than that. So I came out and absolutely just fell in love with the team … Those guys are my brothers, they’re my family. I would do anything for them.”
In addition to Ultimate Frisbee, Wasnick has served as an RA in South Donahue.
His Camp War Eagle experience has led him from a freshman attending, to a counselor and now head counselor.
“I would like to say thank you to the University for this opportunity,” Wasnick said. “To my mom and my dad, especially, my family, my sister and my older brother. Without
His advice to incoming freshman is to call home and talk to family, but Wasnick also had advice for parents.
“To the parents, your students are going to the best university in this country and I guarantee you they are thankful for it,” Wasnick said. “I understand sometimes it’s going to be difficult for you guys to understand us, but I ask that you just give us more patience, let us grow and thank you.”
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