I didn't go to Fish Camp as a freshman, but I was a counselor for 2 years in 2005 and 2006. When I got to campus, I had 2 friends from my hometown, and I knew 2 other people who were also going to A&M.

I wish I had gone to Fish Camp so that I could have met others within my major or just someone with common interests. But I decided not to go because neither of my high school classmates were going.

Had I gone to Fish Camp, I probably could have relied on my DG leaders to provide some insight to learn the ins and outs of campus and that I really needed to study my freshman year in order to succeed (how would have thunk it?). Coming from a small town, I wish I had gone to Fish Camp and I realize its worth on this campus. Sure, it may not be for everyone, but to some people, it could be the difference between succeeding at A&M and flunking out after the first year.

sorry nnichols i'm gonna write up a lot and e-mail you soon, i've just been completely swamped with work lately. I'll get it to you this week for sure

[This message has been edited by htownag08 (edited 6/22/2010 10:38p).]

Agree with the other poster who said going to fish camp is a gamble of sorts. But the upside is much greater than the downside.

Upside: You may come away with a new appreciation of A&M traditions and/or a new great circle of friends or perhaps even a gf/bf (every night there is a dance with ample opportunities to meet people)

Downside: You didn't like the people in your camp/dg and thought it was a waste of 4 days. Oh well.

You should go. What everyone is saying about the weirdness, and councelors making it more about them is completley correct. But you will meet a lot of people that feel the same way during fish camp as you, sort of an "us vs them" mentality. Dont let this thread ruin is for you though, for sure go with an open mind.

^

I think this post sums it up. I didn't love fish camp by any means, but I'm still glad I experienced it. I talk to one or two people from my DG, but that's about it. If you hate it, then you can befriend other people that hate it equally. 3 days of your summer isn't an enormous investment.

Did I make any lasting friendships, no. Did I learn a lot about the University and the traditions, yes. I am from over 600 miles away (still in Texas) and knew no one coming to A&M. Got involved in a church and made friends that way. But I would still go to Fish Camp again as it was a decent time that I otherwise would have spent doing nothing during that week before school. (I had Fish Camp G as it made more economical sense for me to tie it together with me moving down to CS).

[This message has been edited by Marsuvees (edited 6/23/2010 4:12p).]

I went I'm pretty "meh" about it. I didn't have a horrible time and I meet some ok people, I just never really kept up with them past my 1st semester.

I never got any cult or crazy-family vibe from it.


I think if you don't know anybody going it, it might be worth it because you might meet some people.

At the same time, if you're gonna be living in a dorm and are decently outgoing, you'll probably meet people otherwise.

Everything that can be said about FC has already been said. Yes the cheers for your color and the skits are stupid, but it's more about meeting people anyway. I went and I hated the activities, but I met friends and got some good insight about campus so to me it was worth it.

Now I am going to shamelessly plug my organization. Check out impactretreat.com for a Christ centered retreat for freshman to get plugged into the Body at A&M. If you have any questions shoot me an email at my username@tamu.edu

I didn't go in 2005.

Wish I would have.

Go for the experience. First day and a half is really out there as far any previous A&M experience you may have had. But the last two days is when everyone starts feeling more comfortable in talking about making the transition to A&M/College life as well as getting to know your fellow Fish, etc etc. Like some have said, some people don't get it, or it wasn't for them.

Then again, some people will say the same thing about the Corps or some other A&M organization.

Mazag's post is right exactly right.

Fish Camp > Impact

I'll be a junior this season so my fish camp was 2 years ago. I see my counselor around the engineering buildings and we say hi or whatever and there are a couple other people I still talk to when I run into them around campus, but for the most part I don't keep in touch with anyone from fish camp except for the two friends from HS I was in the same session with.

It was a pretty fun experience and did make the transition a little bit easier. I got to CS about a week before anyone else I knew from HS that was also going, so hanging out with my camp provided some entertainment for that week. But once classes started we never really did anything together again.

Also, it is a super easy way to meet girls. There are a TON of girls that go into FC with boyfriends back home that break up with them by the time the 3 days are over. I have no idea why but it was always so funny to see all the girls huddled up around the one spot in camp that got cell phone reception before the mixers calling back home. So that adds a good little bit of fun to it as well.

So anyways, for what its worth I certainly don't regret going, and yes it is fun and if you have nothing else going on you may as well check it out, but if you don't go you're really not missing out on anything great.

[This message has been edited by AgentZero (edited 2/7/2012 11:03am).]

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These activities seem to be not mentioned at all by the fish camp haters but I believe they provide a good foundation for some of the fish that come to A&M without any friends.

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The amount of activity outside of fish camp varies greatly from DG to DG. My DG tried to meet once after FC, and when that fell through it was done.

AgentZero makes an excellent point. My older brother going to A&M made the transition much easier but as soon as I made friends...I stopped constantly asking him to hang out with his friends. And he understood.

Funny thing is I ran into someone from my DG at a party who I actually thought was cool. We got to talking and I remembered a lot of stuff about him. He was probably the only dude I liked.

Everyone should go just for the experience. It really wasn't my thing at all but at least I went. You kinda realize how much of a joke it is once you get on campus though.

[This message has been edited by AgentZero (edited 2/7/2012 11:03am).]

A friend once told me that the goal of fish camp was to get the freshmen to the point where they don't need the counselors any more. Some freshmen have an easy time making friends and don't really need the extra boost. Some freshmen are nervous as heck and need to be re-assured a bit. Whatever group you are in, fish camp gives you a better shot at finding some friends and getting plugged into the university.

Fish Camp is one of the reasons we have a 1st year retention rate in the 90% range. Being in a school of 40,000+ is extremely difficult when you don't feel connected to anyone/anything.

A_MBaseballFan, did you go to both Fish Camp and Impact?

I have a few friends that have said Impact was waaaay better than fish camp.

READ THIS!

Go. You can decide if it was worth it on the 4th day.
If you end up liking it, you'll be glad you went.
If you end up hating it, it will be your first learning experience of "Suck it up, you're an adult, learn to put up with things you don't like."

Give yourself as many opportunities to make as many great memories as you can while you're here at A&M. It's going to be over before you know it and you're going to have a long list of "I wish I would have _____."

Do yourself a favor: start knocking things off that list before it gets too long and too late.

I'm not from Texas. The first contact I ever had with anything Texas related was at Fish Camp with a bunch of brand new Aggies. Fish Camp is a great place where you can finally say to yourself, "Damn! I'm here! I am an OFFICIAL Aggie."

hth

[This message has been edited by dan87 (edited 7/20/2010 2:58p).]

no fish camp

what dan said....

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A_MBaseballFan, did you go to both Fish Camp and Impact?

I have a few friends that have said Impact was waaaay better than fish camp.

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Impact has a completely different purpose than Fish Camp. Although people do it all the time, its impossible to really compare the two because they are so different.

like many people have said, just go

Fish Camp was great for me because it gives you so many people that you can befriend and also people to go to your first football game with and it lets you know upperclassmen, who, if they are good counselors, will be great sources of knowledge and can help you throughout your freshman year.

Fish Camp isnt perfect and you may end up in a camp that is a bit over the line or you may end up in the best camp ever, but you are about to go to college where you will see much worse on Northgate or at a party.

Fish Camp is one of the best ways to enter into the Aggie Family.

I enjoy the assertion that counselors get more out of fish camp than the freshmen. Of course they do! Counselors spend six months preparing for camp. Freshmen spend 4 days at camp.

Using that same criteria, members of Carpool who participate for multiple get much more out of the organization than the patrons who take a ten minute car ride. Therefore, Carpool is obviously a worthless organization and should be disbanded.

(For disclaimer I was both a Fish Camp counselor, Carpool Member as well as involved in many other organizations)

Since so many of you have completely missed the point of Fish Camp, an explanation is in order. First off, it is gay. Really gay. They make you do alot of crap you'd never consider doing otherwise, and it's almost like they go out of your way to make you miserable. Additionally, alot of the counselors are ******bags. They don't really care about you and they are just there because it's the cool thing to do.

Despite these complaints, Fish Camp does add a lot of value to the university. Unless you've been wearing maroon longer than you've been able to walk, you learned a whole traditions most of which you didn't already know. It also gives freshmen a group of people to hang out with. I didn't know a lot of people going in, but a guy from my fish camp lived across the hall in my dorm, so I immediately had someone I knew living close by. For a university that values its connections and brags about being the largest close knit university in the country, these are important. During your freshmen year and even throughout your entire time at A&M, you will run into people you met at Fish Camp and you automatically have a connection by being able to ***** about stupid games with Starburst or watching the Dirty Dancing skit. See, there is a purpose to all those gay activities they make you do. First, it gives you shared experiences with everyone else. Second, it makes you break down the walls you've built up during high school. It's hard to act like your cooler than everyone else when you're dressed up like a toilet paper princess. Finally, everyone gets screwed over by some dick counselors. I ran into mine less than a week after classes began and he had no idea who I was. Alot of them leave as soon as the freshmen show up. If this pisses you off, as it should, sign up to be a counselor and make it better.

From the perspective of a freshmen, you won't make life-long friends at fish camp. If you do, you're not spending college getting to know new people. What you will get is a group of people to hang out the first semester or so, instead of coming into college cold turkey. I promise that if you go to fish camp you will meet someone in your dorm/class/organization, who was in the same camp as you. You will have a shared experience and it will help transition to college better. If the counselors have fun, who cares? Fish camp won't change you're life, but it's worth the 4 days and $125.

quote:

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Fish camp was made for counselors to make friends with each other, not for campers.

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This, more than anything else. You may not realize it while you're at Fish Camp, but you will once the next year's Fish Camp selection/planning begins.

That said, it's hokey and it's pretty stupid most of the time, but everyone should go. It's a good way to prep yourself for college and A&M.

My son just got back from Fish Camp and he absolutely LOVED it! (Note: He was not really thrilled about going at first.) He is hoarse from doing yells and laughing; and tired from all the dancing and staying up late talking. He also told me that he wished it would have lasted 2-3 more days. Glad he experienced it!

I would say go and experience it. You either will develop some lasting friendships or you won't.

I was one of the people that didn't develop any lasting friendships. I think most of the friendships that are formed in fish camp are largely superficial, because how well can you really know someone after three days?

The main benefit for me was that I got used to meeting lots of new people. If you're in the same high school for 4 years, you don't meet a tremendous amount of new people every day.

Fish Camp was completely pointless in my opinion

Nothing but 4 days in the heat and watching stupid skits

High School TuffGuy

It was fine. A little too brain-washy, but nothing horrible.

The strangest part? My DG counselor transferred to tu.

Kristin, what camp was your son in?

Camp Johnson - session B - purple