Students at Fortnight are required to put in a lot of effort to see their dreams come to life, but these are lessons that can benefit them in the long term regardless of the careers they enter. Counselors lead campers through philosophical readings and discussions about what work is, why it is necessary, and how to fully engage in it. Ultimately, students learn to question how one should best approach work, and life, to be a fulfilled and energetic person. With every project, these lessons are given concrete backing, as the evidence of each student’s potential is in each project they complete.
These ideas go beyond the realm of building. The students and counselors live in an integrated community, sharing the duties of cooking, serving meals, cleaning up, and taking care of one another. So students also learn how to work as a unit, complement each others’ strengths, and operate as a community of learners. In addition, all of camp life is organized around a philosophy of healthy-living, which means that all meals are as hand-made as the forts themselves.
