Another Successful STARTALK Summer Language Camp! by the words of a parent – Shavaun Hawkins

“These are going to be the best two weeks of my life”! That is what my daughter Autumn-Journee told me as we sat on the plane in Washington, DC on our way to Montgomery, Alabama. She was so excited and thrilled to be able to attend the Catch the K-Wave Korean Language Camp with A-KEEP.  

Autumn-Journee truly has a love for the Korean culture from the language, the food, K-pop music, and the clothing style. So, when I started to research Korean language summer camps and I came across A-KEEP on the STARTALK website, I knew this was where Autumn-Journee was meant to be this summer! Autumn-Journee attended the camp for the first week virtually and the last two weeks in person. Since attending in person, she has quickly developed so many friendships with the students and teachers alike. Her language skills have advanced so much in such a short time. And more importantly this experience has been everything she expected it would be and more! Such as performing at Biscuits stadium for Korean cultural night, wearing traditional Korean dress and performing a skit in Korean language and performing K-pop dances! The highlight of each day for her and her friends is buying from the K-pop store!  

As a parent, I had the privilege of volunteering the last two weeks of camp. It has been a fantastic experience for me as well. Catch the K-wave is not just a summer camp, it really is a loving community of kids and educators who have become family. The teachers have created an environment where children can be free to learn and be themselves. The classrooms are taught in an immersion style and learning is incorporated into fun games with exciting interaction. This has been such a magical experience for Autumn-Journee and worth every commitment to see the joy she has experienced that she will never forget. She doesn’t want to leave her friends or teachers as camp comes to a bitter-sweet end. Autumn-Journee will cherish the special relationships she has developed with everyone and of course we will be back next summer for another amazing summer of Korean learning with A-KEEP in 2022!