While it is a common conclusion that most students go home for the summer, and therefore the University is dull and uneventful, campus is full of life from May to August. 

Summer gives non-college students a chance to familiarize themselves with N.C. State’s campus while learning about  colleges like the College of Design, the College of Engineering and the College of Agriculture and Life Science. They can also practice sports.

They can do all this through camps run by University faculty, staff and students. 

The engineering camps, organized by Susan D’Amico, the coordinator of engineering K-12 outreach extension, began Thursday, June 13. Various engineering majors are the camp counselors. 

Kevin Chapman, a sophomore in biological engineering, decided to become a counselor because, when he was in high school, he attended a civil and biological engineering camp, and it helped him decide his major. 

“I met with one of the professors after the camp, and he took me out to a wetland restoration,” Chapman said. “He taught me all about that, and it was very interesting. That helped me choose my major.”

Chapman attended the residential camp, which is was for rising 11th and 12th graders. They spent their day learning about a specific type of engineering they were interested in. After the day camp part, campers enjoyed college life by playing ultimate Frisbee and making K-mart runs. The campers also stayed in a residence hall. 

Today Chapman and his fellow counselors organize activities for the campers to do once they are out of the engineering activities. 

There are also engineering camps offered for elementary and middle school students. 

According to D’Amico, the engineering camps have been in high demand. About 120 kids who signed up couldn’t come because they filled up so quickly. The camps are also offered in Hickory, Rocky Mount, Havelock and Wilmington. 

D’Amico said the rise in interest for engineering is great for the field because there are misconceptions about what a engineer really does. 

“The focus of the camp is to show a wide, broad view of engineering,” D’Amico said. “A lot of people have mistaken stereotypes about what engineering is, that it is only bridge building or robotics, but those are tiny slivers of what engineering really truly is.”

The University’s College of Design partners with the Contemporary Art Museum in downtown Raleigh for a creative summer experience. 

It is a pre-college program that gives high school students a chance to understand what design is and to explain why art and design is so important.

According to the CAM website, campers can choose to stay on campus overnight or attend just a day camp. 

There are plenty of camps offered by CALS ranging from veterinary medicine to poultry science.  The camps are either typical camp settings like a 4-H camp or an idea that a faculty member had. 

Some camps, like VetCAMP, helps students get a jumpstart on the career they want to have. It introduces pre-veterinary high school students to that field. 

“There are a lot of middle and high school students who already realize that that is something they want to do,” said Sam Pardue, associate dean and director of academic programs. “For most students it is difficult to know what they want to do for the next 40 years of their lives. It’s great if you have that clarity.”

The vet camp allows students to hear from various veterinarians about their job, including veterinary clinic basics, surgery, dissections and anatomy. Campers also tour the University’s Veterinary Medicine School. 

The Poultry Science Summer Institute promotes N.C. State’s poultry science major, which only five other universities offer. 

“The need for people to be exposed to it and to consider it as a potential area of interest for them as a major is what stimulated the formation of that camp,” Pardue said. 

Pardue said N.C. State had the same intention with the horticulture camp.

The University also offers many sports camps. 

Brandon Holloway, head coach of N.C. State’s swim team, runs the University’s summer swim camps along with his assistant coaches. N.C. State swimmers also help the campers as part-time counselors or demonstrating drills. The camp is designed to help campers improve their swimming abilities while keeping it fun, according to Mary Holloway, the Wolfpack Swim Camp administrator.