Alumni Features
May 2, 2025
min read
Dounya Bilal
Dounya Bilal, Camp alumni and past staff member, shares beautiful reflections about special moments at Camp Glen Brook. Dounya spent many years traveling the world, from Hawaii to Australia to New Mexico, and found her calling while farming tropical flowers in a little town on Maui, and now resides in Honolulu where she works as a floral designer. Dounya shares that Glen Brook is, “Why I’m
me.”
What is one of your favorite things about Glen Brook?
How has Glen Brook stayed with you over the years?
Jackie Proctor
We recently chatted with Jackie Proctor, Camp alumni and past staff member, about her time at Camp Glen Brook. Jackie currently lives in Boston working as a project manager and recently got married to her college sweetheart, Connor. She attributes her love of the outdoors to her time spent at Camp Glen Brook and the three words she uses to describe this place are serene, loving, and magical.
What is one of your favorite things about Glen Brook?
Everything?! Just thinking about Glen Brook makes me immediately more calm and throws me back into countless blissful memories. From tetherball competitions, to Iron Camper and even Hobart duty, I smile thinking about ALL of the details regularly. One of my all time favorite things about Glen Brook is the community. I can still tell you names of fellow campers I haven’t talked to in well over 12 years, but I still remember our time together fondly. Over the years, I’ve run into fellow campers in the most random places, from New York City’s Penn Station to Church Street in Burlington, and each time we’ve stopped to reminisce about Glen Brook memories!
Share a favorite memory from your time at Camp Glen Brook.
I have so many fantastic memories from my 10+ years of visits, it would be impossible to pick one. Recently I was talking with one of my closest friends (and a bridesmaid in my wedding) Charlotte Magee and our Waldorf friend Sarah Rokhlin about the pure bliss that was our Falcon camp year. With Mark as our leader, I remember those 3 weeks full of belly laughs, wonderful stories and bonding that forged friendships that will last a lifetime. Falcon year taught me so much about myself, and was the perfect way to end my career as a summer camper (before becoming a counselor).
How has Glen Brook stayed with you over the years?
My love and appreciate of the outdoors was born and nurtured from my years of going to Glen Brook in all different seasons. To this day when I am stressed and need to clear my head, I try and immerse myself in nature by finding new hiking trails or lakes to wonder around. In more recent years, the Glen Brook proverb of “leave the world a little better than how you found it” has rolled through my head in countless situations, always reminding me to do the right thing, even when that is the harder option.
