After Attending Healthy Kids Camps-Camp Timber Creek, Annie Polashock Starts a Health Awareness Club at her High School
Annie was an overweight 15 year old when she attended Camp Timber Creek. The knowledge she gained at camp enabled her to start a Health Awareness Club at her High School to help other overweight students.
Cary, N. C. (PRWEB) January 20, 2006
Annie was always an overweight kid. Food was the centerpiece of her life. Annie loved it, and would eat for every emotion possible. She never understood portions, never knew when she was hungry or satisfied, or recognized what exactly she should be eating.
Her love of food prevented Annie from being a healthy weight. As time went on, she became unhappy with herself she started liking boys, who didn’t like her because she was heavy. Other girls in her grade who were a healthy weight or slightly underweight commented on their appearance and their “flaws.” It just did not make her feel good. When that happened, she hid within herself with the food she ate. With time, Annie just got bigger and bigger and unhappier and unhappier.
"I started high school not knowing many people, which was quite scary. My brother was a senior, and he and all his friends would make fun of me. It made me turn to food, and I gained 30 pounds by the end of my freshman year.” Annie stated sadly.
The summer before her sophomore year, her mom decided she needed more help. She found a new camp opening in the mountains of North Carolina called Healthy Kids Camps’, Camp Timber Creek. The camp focused more on improving self-esteem and eating right than on weight-loss.
Annie soon realized that camp was great. She started loving the experience, the friends, the counselors, the support system, everything. She started looking inside herself and realizing that she was a beautiful girl. She did not need anyone’s approval except her own. She realized that if “I wanted to be happy with my appearance; I had to change it myself.” Her counselors and fellow campers at Camp Timber Creek supported her, and they encouraged Annie to do her best at every activity, to be all she can be, and they helped her plan on how to stay successful outside of camp.
Gaining self-esteem and self-worth really made her want to help others. "I thought, if I have been overweight all my life, and I have changed my life, then I can help others do the same! I decided that the best way to reach people was to target people my own age that I could relate to the best. I wrote out a proposal for a school club that would promote positive self-esteem, healthy eating, and overall wellness.” Annie said proudly.
She sent her proposal to the Foods and Nutrition teachers at her school, who immediately agreed to sponsor the club. The Health Awareness Club started this year at Green Hope High School in Cary, N. C. from her efforts and knowledge that Annie gained at Camp Timber Creek. The students get together to discuss their eating problems, talk about healthy eating habits and body image changes, and they even play games that get them moving. “It seems to have really inspired some people to better themselves, and that just makes me feel ten times better!', happily and proudly stated by Annie.
Next year, before college, Annie’s dreaming of become a camp counselor so that she can help other kids with similar problems. Ira Green, Healthy Kids Camps-Camp Timber Creek's director, hired Annie for the summer of 2006. “I am so proud of Annie not only for what she has accomplished for herself and her desires to help others, makes me so proud and my life’s work so rewarding.”
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