Alicia Berlin remembers feeling extremely homesick the first time she spent a summer at Camp Louise. She was 10 years old and had never spent an extended period of time away from home before.
“They called my mom and told her, ‘I’m going to put Alicia on the phone. Tell her she has to stay,’ and she told me I had to stay,” Berlin recalled. “I had a choice, I could have a good time, or I could be miserable. I decided that I was going to tough it out anyway.”
This was the beginning of a love affair with the Jewish girls’ overnight camp that has lasted 44 years. Now, Berlin is the camp’s director, having started as a camper and worked her way up through counselor-in-training and counselor roles.
Berlin’s three daughters have also attended Camp Louise during their summers ever since they were young. The family lives in Owings Mills and attends Beth El Congregation.
Initially, Berlin had no plans to return to camp in a professional capacity. She briefly worked as an accountant at a large accounting firm before deciding to change her career path, earning a master’s in teaching and going on to teach at several Baltimore County and Howard County schools. Even as a teacher, though, she still spent summers at Camp Louise as a counselor and unit leader.
In 2007, right after her twins were born, Berlin was invited to serve as Camp Louise’s director for a year-long period, a position she readily accepted. At the time, she had no idea that this was the start of a new phase in her life.
“It was not ideal, since my kids were 6 weeks old,” she said. But she had met her husband, Neil Berlin, at camp, as he had attended Camp Airy, Camp Louise’s brother camp, and they thought it was a great opportunity. “It was definitely a team effort, and we had both sets of grandparents taking turns with the kids,” Alicia Berlin said.
Neil Berlin also worked at Camps Airy and Louise. He died in 2022.
Alicia Berlin actually serves two roles at Camp Louise. She is the camp’s director, but also the co-executive director of Camps Airy and Louise collectively. She holds the role alongside Camp Airy Director Marty Rochlin and Director of Development Lauren Perlin, and together they oversee the camps’ operations both during the summer and during the rest of the year as they prepare for summer. Some of their responsibilities include recruiting staff, managing the budget and planning for the next camp session.
In her time as director, Berlin has implemented updates to camp buildings and activities, as well as adding new ones. She noted that it’s important for her that the camp remains screen-free, and that the activities they offer are ones that do not require the use of a phone or computer.
“When I was younger, it wasn’t something I had to think about since no one had screens,” she said. “It’s a great opportunity for kids to leave their screens at home and talk to people, be face-to-face with them, learn critical skills they may not be able to otherwise and really enjoy nature.”
Seeing Camp Louise’s campers grow and develop over the course of the summer is one of the most meaningful parts of the camp experience to Berlin, as both someone who has experienced that development firsthand as a camper and as an educator. During a camp session, a child may go from crying because they do not want to leave their parents to crying because they do not want camp to be over.
For parents who are considering sending their kids to summer camp, Berlin said that it’s important for them to put their trust in the camp staff and counselors and to not project their own worries about being away from their child onto the child. And, of course, be sure to label all of your camper’s belongings so they don’t get lost.
“We have generations of families coming back to camp. Since we’ve been around for over 100 years, we sometimes even have fifth-generation campers,” she said. “Camp touches so many people’s lives in ways I don’t think they realize.”
