Judy Campa is proof of the old adage: where there’s a will, there’s a way.
A third generation San Antonian, she was blessed with a family that broadened her horizons beyond the Alamo City. Her dad, a railroad history buff, rigged up a van with beds and took them on road trips through the southern and eastern United States. She remembers those times with fondness. To this day, she and her wife, Vanessa, enjoy extended camping treks across the country.
Perhaps a more vital influence on Judy came through her aunt Isabel, who passed along a love for the natural world to her niece. She took Judy hiking in both state and national parks, reveling in the beauty, a reverence that Judy absorbed.
“It stayed with me,” she says, “and when I heard as a young person that we were harming our planet, I felt compelled to do my part. I volunteered at recycling centers in high school, receiving the materials and separating them into proper bins.”
This will to make a difference remained with Judy into adulthood, a drive to be part of protecting Mother Earth. She searched for new outlets, and after coming across the term Master Naturalist on the internet, she discovered San Antonio’s founding chapter and its annual training.
Both she and Vanessa graduated in class 45, but they had barely begun to hit their stride in volunteering when the pandemic hit, severely limiting opportunities.
That didn’t stop Judy. She is a Web Developer by trade, working with UTSA in its Enrollment Services department. So, when the former webmaster for AAMN, Pat Symchych, moved to Utah, Judy accepted the invitation to take her place. Judy has also operated behind the scenes as Editor for the chapter’s Talking Point series.
Neither of those roles, however, could satisfy her desire for hands-on work outdoors. As COVID restrictions began to lift, she found an outlet with Tree Buds, a citizen forestry program that is part of the San Antonio Arborist Association.
“I’ve learned the proper ways to trim and care for trees from their roots to their boughs. We gather for work days in city parks to both prune and do root collar excavations. I love it! This care is so important, and I was amazed that many businesses who advertise themselves as ‘tree trimmers’ are not even certified as arborists.”
You would think that such a full plate of professional and volunteer involvement would be enough for Judy, but her aunt Isabel influenced her in another way. She often talked to Judy about the need to learn outdoors skills. Judy had a brief exposure to Girl Scouts but was frustrated that the scope of outdoor education seemed more limited than with Boy Scouts.
Once again, Judy searched for outlets, finding very little. But…where there’s a will, there’s a way. She and Vanessa decided to create their own opportunities, forming the first San Antonio chapter of the Outdoor Service Guides—the 13th Aguayaam Guan scout group (pronounced ‘awa yām wān’, meaning water bird in the Coahuilteco language). Its mission is to welcome everyone to scouting, regardless of race, gender identity, sexual orientation, class, ability, religion (or no religion), or other differentiating factors.
What better way to learn than by preparing yourself to teach! Over the past two years, Judy and Vanessa have instructed the scouts in fire building, water filtration, establishing trail signs, foraging for edibles, prepping emergency kits, and learning to be anglers through a program with Texas Parks and Wildlife.
Judy says, “It is so fulfilling for me to not only learn these skills myself, but to pass them on to others, especially children. It is definitely a way to transmit the legacy of my aunt Isabel.”
You can connect with Judy through her personal FB page here, the website for Aguayaam Guan here, or on Instagram here
