How It All Started
The founders in a park in Germany, just after all students left to go with their host families. I am the one in the middle, on the left are Gab and Gizz, my two best friends.
Summer Camps are not always what we see in the movies: the wooden cabin with bunk beds, the lake, a fireplace, and kids running around a pier while others swim and canoe. Although there are still many summer camps like that in the US and perhaps a few in Europe, such as ferienhort.at in Austria (where a good friend sent their children a few summers ago), the ‘summer camps’ these days are a money-making machine.
I remember that when I was only eight years old, my mom came into my room and, while we were both sitting on my pink canopy bed, asked me if I wanted to go to Germany with my brother and some other kids from school. “You will stay with a family and live with them for eight weeks.” I didn’t understand what she was saying, but I felt scared of the unknown and nodded several times. My oldest brother left that summer, and we wrote him a letter every week. When his response arrived in the mail, it was easy to visualize the exciting experiences he shared with us: What he ate, the places he visited, the fact that he took a bike to go everywhere unsupervised by a parent, and the chocolates and gummy bears he ate. Next year, I was on that plane with a bunch of other kids, new clothes and even a new Kodak camera (yup, it was a Kodak, the one to which you needed to attach what looked like a cube if you wanted to use the “flash”).
We all stayed at a Jugendherberge (youth hostel) for a week in Austria. I still remember two of my roommates, Ulla and Maritza. The group leaders took us everywhere. We went sightseeing to the most breathtaking mountains and rivers. They even took us to a water park. I still remember the famous song the bus driver played nonstop! But one sunny day, we drove to Germany, where our host families awaited us. We were all so nervous! Suddenly, nobody spoke or sang. We were all just waiting for our turn to leave. We knew that we wouldn’t meet anybody from the group again this summer, and neither was I going to see my brother! “Edna, it’s your turn; you are going to be staying with “Familie Sturman.” The man (or my “father”) gave me a stiff handshake and introduced me to Pia, my “sister” for the summer. She had an accident, and her knee went through surgery, so she wasn’t walking properly. She gave me a nervous hug, and we left in their small car to drive to their home: A nice, one-story, very German-looking house. There we met the Oma and the mother, too. Oma used to bake and organize the “Kaffee trinken” (coffee time) every day at 4 pm. This was, as I remember, accompanied by a beautiful table full of goodies. It was simply AMAZING! Hot chocolate, tea, coffee, cake, Jaffa Cake cookies (to this day, these are my favourites), Nutella… Need I say more? What a lovely woman this sweet Oma was, who even had a bird called “Pips” or something like that.
The mom was very friendly, too. I remember that one day, while she was drying my hair, she was telling me something about her breast area… I didn’t understand what she was trying to explain, but the word “Krebs” stuck with me. It was not until a year or so later, when we received a card in the mail in Mexico which announced that she had passed away, that I understood the meaning of this word. The card was written in German, and we were all trying to decipher what it said. There was a cross on the cover, so my parents figured out what had happened: She died of breast cancer. I was confused; I was only ten years old.
”I wanted to cry big time. My throat hurted for containing it. I didn’t drop a tear. That was the first sign of the strong woman I was going to become.
On the first day, I stayed with Familie Sturman, and they took me to a birthday party at one of their neighbours. I looked “different,” so all the kids were intrigued by “the kid from Mexico.” I was treated to a lot of yummy candies and cakes that my eyes and mouth had never before tasted. We also went to a forest close to the house. At this point, I had such a knot in my throat that I wanted to cry so badly. I started to believe that maybe while we were on the plane, all the people I knew in Mexico had changed Mexico and the scenery and that now everything was just different. I imagined the birthday girl was playing the role of my friend Sandra in Mexico, for example. Perhaps suddenly, everybody looked like someone I knew; maybe everything was just a trick to see how I behaved in a different environment. This might sound like sci-fi thinking for the ’80s. Anyway, no matter how much I wanted to cry and how my throat hurt for containing it, I didn’t drop a tear. I guess that was the first sign of the strong woman I would become.
That summer passed by very, very slowly. I can’t tell if I improved my German language skills, but I came back home full of new experiences, a better version of myself, full of gifts, Nutella jars and plenty of stories to tell. Who would have known that some 30 years later, I would be blogging about it?
Guinea Pigs in The UK
Through the years, my older brother and I became Group Leaders and Activity Leaders. We were in charge of all the students who travelled to England. At the same time, my other brother was operating in Germany, and we sent students to the fantastic schools and summer camps run by the DID Institute. Patrick S. (Managing Director) and Almir K. (Marketing Director) are in front of the team, not just charming and professional. They offer the best service and experience to their students and international agents.
We took over my parents’ business in Mexico. But people have yet to learn that my brothers kept and operated the company for the last 23 years and only invited me to participate occasionally as if Mr. Rojas wasn’t my father as well. That is a story for another blog or podcast.
After a few more summers in Germany and my parents now acting as main organizers, they decided to explore the UK with us as an English language destination. The UK had just become quite popular for ESL (English as a second language) or EFL (English as a Foreign Language) programs. We went to Bournemouth, a beautiful town on the South Coast. Here, the host families were not very friendly or caring. At the house I stayed, there were a bunch of rules we had to follow, the houses were old, and the floors cracked. The food was terrible. OMG! I was even scared to walk back home in the dark because it was close to a pub and just at the end of a tunnel.
The school we went to was a house. Literally, a house adapted to be a school, or so I thought. I was expecting an actual modern building (duh!). There were tons of Spanish students, gorgeous girls using these mini skirts and dresses in the ‘Brit’ unpredictable weather. It took me many years to understand the climate there; I even wore thermal underwear in mid-summer during the first year! Oh, dear! But then, England was always pictured as a cold, foggy, humid country.
Summer Love
Anyways, there were Italians, too; many good-looking Italian boys. We all went to English classes in the morning and had a few organized activities in the afternoon. At night, there was always dancing involved! “The Academy” was the place to go: An old theatre that had been converted to a club for students to dance until 10 pm. Oh what amazing memories I have from those summers in England! I fell in love a few times during those summers and one “love” even remained in my live for many years. It was a long-distance relationship and he even came to Mexico to declare his love for me.
Overall, I feel that I didn’t improve my English in school but through being immersed in the country, speaking English with people from so many different nations, ordering Big Mac’s and shakes on a daily basis, going shopping, communicating with the host families while eating (a not so good) curry at 6 pm. I remember these experiences, the school, the students, the town, the excursions to London, Oxford, Bath, Cambridge, and Brighton. I remember a romantic walk to the beach, a bench where I kissed Emilio. Emilio was an Italian boy who I assume didn’t speak English at all! We didn’t talk! haha. His roommate was my brother’s roommate; so it all stayed in the “family”. And, of course, I remember Mr. Gallina, the Italian man who owned the school. His son Paul took over a few years later and we all had a crush on him. I will always be fond of Southbourne School of English, an amazing school located in a beautiful town by the coast.
At dinner time somewhere in Ontario with some of my girls from
Colegio Argos, Mexico.
Fun Times Became Work. A Lot Of Fun Work.
Through the years, my older brother and I became Group Leaders and Activity Leaders. We were in charge of all the students who travelled to England. At the same time, my other brother was operating in Germany, and we sent students to the fantastic schools and summer camps run by the DID Institute. Patrick S. (Managing Director) and Almir K. (Marketing Director) are in front of the team, not just charming and professional. They offer the best service and experience to their students and international agents.
We took over my parents’ business in Mexico. But people have yet to learn that my brothers kept and operated the company for the last 23 years and only invited me to participate occasionally as if Mr. Rojas wasn’t my father as well. That is a story for another blog or podcast.
And Then I Moved To Canada
15 years ago, I moved to Canada: Vancouver, British Columbia, to be exact. Far from being what I expected regarding work and opportunities, I have been trying to find my way to live and survive in a costly city. Here, if you are ambitious with money, you will certainly “make it.” Still, if you are ambitious with no money left after financing your life in this city for almost 12 years, then you need to be very brave, very creative, very innovative, and very much driven to “make it.”
Tired of being underpaid, overworked, bullied, demoted, and after extending my student permit repeatedly, I decided to switch careers. If I was going to start from zero in a company, it was at least going to be in a trendy industry. An industry that focuses on the “now” and the future. Ladies and gents: The Tech Industry. There is something very cool about being part of the Tech industry and being a woman in Tech. So, I enrolled in a Digital Skills school and started studying Product Management. I suddenly saw another world opening up in front of me. For my project at school, I worked on the idea of “The Camp” (the name before it became The Urban Camp). My classmates and a perplexed teacher loved my vision, and it was not until after Christmas 2018, when I came back from the Holidays in Mexico, super scared with no job, broken-hearted, and barely had money to live, that I sat down and started creating a map for the year.
So The Adventure Begins…
Met at the Women in Tech Regatta 2019. At Microsoft trying on HoloLens and learning about Mixed Reality Technology.
I enrolled in many free webinars and online courses, started following the right Instagram accounts and blogs, and attended as many free and paid talks, workshops, panels, and networking events as possible. The idea of The Urban Camp was a sort of “AHA” moment: What better way to mix education and technology and start preparing younger generations for the “now” and future than through education about Tech and innovation. Young generations will soon face a labour market offering jobs that we didn’t even know existed. I also wanted to prepare the younger generations to think critically, be more agile, solve problems, and create a mindset that makes an impact. I want to educate conscious students who care about the environment and the animals. I want to educate students on being respectful, empathetic, tolerant, and patient with one another. I want my students coming to our summer camps to experience what it was like being fully immersed in the everyday life of this country and a city that is friendly and full of beautiful places waiting to be explored.
The programs, workshops, and camps at The Urban Camp educate our students on the latest trends in technology, innovation and entrepreneurship. I want them to remember The Urban Camp as a fantastic experience, where they will be immersed in a new culture and the English language, learning engaging skills that will last a lifetime. Our summer camps are all my past experiences, but they are better, merged with the modern, hip, and urban world.
”I want the students to remember The Urban Camp as an amazing experience, where they will be immersed in a new culture, the English language, learning engaging skills that will last a lifetime.
I have been working and furthering myself nonstop since January 2019 at home, at coffee shops, in the park, on the bus (great ideas came from bus rides believe it or not), weekends, even the summer went by and I even enrolled to study again! Yes, again. This time to an amazing Digital Marketing course and now I can officially call myself a Woman In Tech! I registered and incorporated The Urban Camp in BC and I am the Founder and Director of my own company (little dance and chapeau).
Today, in 2023, four years in, I wonder how I managed so many things happening simultaneously. How did I go to school, take care of the business, have a side job to pay bills, a boyfriend, and a roommate in a one-bedroom apartment in Vancouver, all simultaneously? Well, those are the “secrets of the cinema” that I am not ready to discuss yet (wink).
Welcome to The Urban Camp!
Imagine your children (or your students if you are a school owner or teacher) learning and experiencing the life of people in Tech and the small business and startup ecosystem in a city now called a Tech hub. Our Urban Campers learn to live like a local while in Canada. While our Urban Campers practice their English, they connect with other Urban Campers and locals who live, breathe, play, and work in this beautiful city.
