Our Alumni Spotlight series is back! We’re excited to highlight our alumni through the years. If you or someone you know would make a great feature, email Darby at [email protected]—we’d love to hear from you!
Today, we are excited to introduce William Foreman. William was a staff member at camp for all but one summer from 2008 to 2018. He spent his summers here on the tennis courts. He now lives in Madison, Mississippi and works for the United States Tennis Association (USTA). At USTA, William works as the Mississippi Director of Competitive Pathway programs. In this role, he oversees both adult and junior competition. This includes supervising tournaments, coaches, players and more.
Now let’s hear William Foreman’s reflections and memories about camp!
The people, the mountains, and the camp dogs.
So many to choose from! There was the time when Tsali was a young puppy and we thought we had lost her on a hike on property. There was the time myself and 2 other staff did a 2 day hike in Pisgah with some juniors. We hiked maybe a total of 2 miles and had the best time just hanging in the river. But I’ll always remember the times on the tennis court, hanging out in the players’ lounge, or having one of the campers want to work on something specific on court during free time. Those are the memories that always come back and make me miss camp the most.
Really the advice for both would be similar: Be open and be ready to be yourself. My first year at High Rocks was on staff, having randomly found it online and showed up for staff training not knowing anyone. By the end of the first camp session, the 3 week session, I had made friends that I still keep in touch with. The culture of High Rocks is so welcoming and encouraging, everyone who is there is genuine and honest. Very hard to find that environment anywhere!
I still go back to my camp counselor days when needed to either help mentor someone younger or check in on myself and make sure I’m doing what I need to be.
The experiences and knowledge I gleaned from my years on staff gave me the confidence to leave a job where I wasn’t respected or valued. It gave me the courage to find a new job in a new state and, while that job wasn’t what I thought it was, it gave me invaluable experience that has brought me to where I am today.
Even as a staff, I feel like daily I was learning new things from the campers. New ways to think about something, or a new way to reach out to someone. Always being open and trying new things is a staple of camp. In my current role, we’ve been constantly trying to innovate and create new play opportunities and new ways to get people on court playing tennis. It is almost exclusively trying new things and not being afraid to fail. Having the camp background is so helpful in deciding to go for things and try new ideas, retool and try them again!
Y’all are the best and I love you all so much! It’s been tough up there and I know the resilience of camp will always endure.
Thank you William Foreman for your thoughtful responses to these questions! It is so valuable to hear the many ways High Rocks has shaped you as a person and influenced the way you live your life. We hope that all of our alumni are able to carry the lessons and memories from camp with them through life as well.
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