Right now, hundreds of students from across the country are spending their week at BigStuf in Panama City Beach, Florida. While every student arrives with different expectations, most leave realizing that camp feels different than they imagined.
Part of that is because BigStuf is more than a collection of sessions, activities, and scheduled events. It is a shared experience. For five days, students move through the week together, creating memories, building friendships, and stepping away from the routines that normally fill their lives.
So what does a typical day at BigStuf actually look like?
Starting the Day Together
Each day begins with students gathering for breakfast before heading into the morning session. One of the unique things about BigStuf is that everyone experiences the week together. Students are not split into separate tracks or schedules. The entire camp moves through the same rhythm, creating a shared experience that becomes part of what makes camp memorable.
The morning session combines worship, teaching, and hosting in a way that is designed specifically for middle and high school students. It is often the moment that sets the tone for everything that follows throughout the day.
Processing What Students Are Learning
After the session, students spend time in small groups with their church. These conversations are one of the most important parts of the camp experience.
Messages heard from stage are discussed in a more personal setting where students can ask questions, share their thoughts, and connect what they are learning to their everyday lives. For many students, these discussions become some of the most meaningful moments of the week because they are happening alongside trusted leaders and friends.
Small groups also create space for students to realize that they are not alone in what they are going through. The challenges they face, the questions they have, and the experiences they are navigating are often shared by others in the group.
Free Time at the Beach
When people think about BigStuf, they often think about the beach, and for good reason.
Every afternoon, students head into free time together. The beach becomes filled with volleyball games, spikeball tournaments, basketball games, students swimming in the ocean, and groups simply spending time together in the sand.
Some students are constantly moving from activity to activity. Others spend the afternoon talking with friends, walking along the water, or relaxing in a beach chair. Regardless of how they spend it, free time gives students an opportunity to connect with one another in a way that is difficult to replicate back home.
These shared experiences often become the foundation for friendships that continue long after camp ends.
Gathering Again in the Evening
As the afternoon winds down, students head back to their rooms to get cleaned up and prepare for the evening.
Dinner leads into another session where the entire camp gathers once again. By this point in the day, students have already spent hours together, discussed what they are learning, and created new memories through free time. The evening session builds on that momentum and often becomes one of the highlights of the day.
Following the session, students participate in late-night activities, themed experiences, and this year, Squad Wars competitions that continue throughout the week.
The Moments Students Remember
Years from now, many students will remember the sessions, the beach, and the activities.
But they will also remember the smaller moments.
They will remember sitting with their small group leader after everyone else had gone to bed. They will remember conversations on the walk back from the beach. They will remember laughing with friends over dinner and staying up later than they probably should have.
Those moments are difficult to put on a schedule, but they are often the moments that leave the biggest impact.
As BigStuf continues this week in Panama City Beach, thousands of those moments are happening every single day. And for many students, they will become part of the story they tell about camp for years to come.
