How Working at Tawonga Helped Shape My Identity and Career

By: Zoe Davidman

As a Latina Jew, the journey of understanding my intersecting identities is lifelong. I feel I lucked out being born in Berkeley, where pieces of me were pretty well represented – but rarely did I feel secure in my identity as a whole.

At times I have felt not Jewish enough since my mother isn’t Jewish; at other times I have felt not Latina enough, for example when somebody addresses me in Spanish, assuming I speak fluently, and I’ve felt shame for not being able to respond adequately.

But once I started working at Camp Tawonga in the summer of 2017 when I was 18 years old, something began to shift. Being on staff provided me with an opportunity to be in a professional setting where I could be 100% authentically me. As a result, the pressure to try and mold myself one way or another disappeared. Being part of a community that not only accepts people as unique individuals but goes beyond that – encouraging identity exploration and celebration – has been deeply pivotal in my personal and professional development.

Since my first summer working as a counselor at Tawonga, I have returned to be part of the summer staff four more times, as a returning counselor, inclusion counselor, Counselor in Training Program staff and Teen Leadership Institute staff. Each year I returned feeling more confident than the year before. As I moved through college in Oregon, my time at Camp became more and more valuable both personally and professionally. Additionally, I participated in Tawonga’s JEDI (justice, equity, diversity and inclusion) fellowship for returning staff, and this, combined with my different staff roles, all has influenced and shaped how my career path has unfolded over the years.

Through my work at Tawonga, I developed valuable skills as an educator, facilitator and leader that have served me both in the field of youthwork and beyond. I have always had a passion for working with young people, and my time at Tawonga affirmed that this was what I was meant to do.

For my college capstone project, inspired by my love for summer camp, the outdoors and JEDI values that all started at Camp Tawonga, I volunteered at Mt. Hood Kiwanis Camp, an outdoor summer camp for children and adults with developmental disabilities. It was an extremely humbling and rewarding experience. I believe everyone should get to experience summer camp!

My experiences at Tawonga helped me find and develop skills for the career I am in today. In 2023, I graduated with a B.S in Child Youth and Family Studies from the School of Social work at Portland State. I currently work for a Bend, Oregon based nonprofit organization called Heart of Oregon Corps as the YouthBuild program Child Youth Development Trainer and JEDI committee member. At YouthBuild we provide high school credit recovery and GED prep to youth aged 16-24 along with job skills training through two career development tracks, one in construction and building affordable housing and the other in child youth development working in our local child care centers. In my current job, I always find myself pulling in tips and tricks I learned from Camp T!

Being a part of a community and organization like Tawonga, whose purpose is making a positive impact, gives me hope and has influenced my choice of career and the types of organizations I want to be involved in. This summer at Tawonga, I know that more young people – campers and staff alike – will be able to step into the full spectrum of their identities. I hope that experience inspires them like it did for me.

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The 2025 Camp Tawonga Summer Staff Application is open! Click here to apply and to learn more about working at Tawonga.