Ellison Sherrill

Name: Ellison Sherrill

Summers as a Camper: 4

4 years as a camper

2 years as a family camper

Years as a Staff Member/Positions Held:

2 Years, Athletics & Assistant Head of Camp IV

Current Profession and Title/Years in role:

Head Varsity Lacrosse Coach at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tenn.

Can you provide a brief overview of your job responsibilities? 

Develop and mentor young women through lacrosse. Intentionally manage team culture, setting expectations and accountability measures, developing leadership, creating a community of love, democracy and fun. Recruit talented, academically motivated and principled student athletes. Strategize to compete at the highest level, develop skill, manage scouting and create effective offensive and defensive schemes.

Do you have any career advice for members of our Camp community?

What I loved about Camp Seafarer was that I was accepted for who I was. I didn’t feel like I had to mold to what anyone else wanted, and then I figured out people liked me for who I was, particularly as a leader. I found a job where I can have that same feeling. If you live authentically and do what you love, you will excel.

What do you believe have been some of your greatest personal and professional accomplishments? Is there a goal toward which you are currently working?

I was working towards the goal of running my own program at an institution that I believed in and I recently did that. :) I am excited to be building on a program with a solid culture of belonging and competitiveness, and now I get to take it even further. I guess my goal is to continue to be adaptable and creative, to find new solutions to new problems.

How do the values or skills you learned at Camp show up in your everyday work and/or personal life? 

I think I gained my confidence as a camper. I could be silly and confident, wear what I wanted without worrying if I looked good or skinny, be friends with all sorts of people rather than just stuck with one clique and to be vulnerable when learning new skills. I learned what I was good at and what took more work. I think the real place confidence came from was seeing my part in a cabin community. I had some pretty remarkable cabins and the feeling of inclusion I knew I was a part of. That intention of inclusion and living authentically has allowed me to be a leader in the most obvious way. I can make decisions with conviction, care for individuals on my team and lead with empathy.

My counselor experience is even more connected to my work professionally. My summer as an Assistant Head was so memorable, partly because Camp becomes a little bit disillusioned. I realized how much WORK it took to make Camp so magical. I had to work while tired and put on a face of excitement and constant enthusiasm. I had to meet people where they were and listen and give advice. I had to stand on a stage and entertain a group of 144 campers with my silliness. I had to learn to work with people who did not put in as much intention and care for the job as I did. I got to see how my actions to bring a group together paid off. My favorite part about Camp was always the cabin time, not the activities. As an Assistant Head I got to do this full time, mentoring and leading constantly through nothing other than relationships.

Little tidbit also… I worked in Athletics the summer we brought lacrosse to Camp. So, I was certainly starting my lacrosse coaching career. Teaching not only first-time lacrosse players but also the staff how to teach the skills. It is really cool to see some of the young campers I worked with that summer end up on college lacrosse teams.

Is there a person or a situation that had a huge influence on you while you were at Camp? How and why did they/it impact you?

Tara Hart - Camp IV Chief when I was a first-time counselor. The grace she led with was infectious and something I try to replicate. I can still remember the power of the excerpts she read from Cold Tangerines. 

Leslie Anderson – Senior in Charge of my cabin two years in a row. She truly built a culture of belonging and authenticity. She was so cool all because she didn’t care about being like anyone else (or at least seemed that way). I also remember very vividly being held accountable by her about people watching my actions as a leader, calling me out that I wasn’t being my best. She did it with care and trust that I can be better, which led me to be embarrassed but empowered.

What advice would you give your younger self?

Live how you lived at Camp, always. When I left, I was swept back into being self-conscious about being too big or not pretty enough. I worried about being on the outside of a group rather than finding the people who like me for me and not caring about the rest. I think I was always relatively confident as a child, but I wasn’t proud of my confidence in every space I inhabited. 

Favorite Camp meal: Chicken Sandwiches; This is so niche, but I never ate Raisin Bran anywhere else, but there was nothing like a cold bowl of Raisin Bran when it was crazy hot.

Favorite mess hall entry song: Love Story by Taylor Swift- I remember the summer this came out.

All-time favorite skit memory: High School Musical with Athletics (I have many HSM memories at Camp – the biggest one being the premiere of one in Taylor Lodge at Family Camp).

Favorite special event at Camp: Camp IV Initiation, midnight parties, Sunday Donuts, General Swim when it was too hot to do anything else.

Devotion you best remember from Camp: I loved when we finished the session writing genuine things we loved about everyone to take home.

Do you have a hidden talent? I’ve played violin since I was 3.

What three words best describe you? Empathetic, loyal, empowering.

What profession other than your own would you like to try? Art Teacher - got my Masters thinking I would be a high school art teacher… here we are.