A Week at Ramapo College: Preparing for IGG Bootcamp

By Cairenn Binder

This year, we will have the highest number of bootcampers ever on Ramapo’s campus for a full week of casework and collaboration. Bootcamp is one of the most fun weeks of the year for us as staff, but it’s not just fun – it’s a lot of work, and can be overstimulating and exhausting, too! 

In this blog post, I will share my top 5 tips for having a great time at IGG bootcamp on Ramapo’s beautiful campus in Mahwah, NJ:

1. Prepare for your stay on campus. You’ll be staying in Bischoff Hall, where you’ll have a private room with your own bathroom. While our dorms were voted the best in New Jersey, remember that it’s not a hotel and may be lacking in some of the things you would expect from a hotel stay. This blog by our staff member Tracie Boyle lists some of the items you might need to bring to make yourself more comfortable. Additionally, here are a few more item recommendations from our staff members:
   • Staff member Traci Onders states, “I drove, so I had room to pack an electric kettle, a mug, some instant coffee and tea. I also packed some snacks.  I liked having a nice towel and my pillow, and packed some walking clothes and shoes as well as my yoga mat.”
   • Staff member Marianne Hess advises a few comfort items: “A towel is a good thing to bring – it was nice having a fridge. If you are picky about your pillow, I would bring a pillow, but it isn’t necessary. I brought one of those $3 mini fleece blankets that are from Walmart. When you fold it is the size of a shirt or pants, but it’s cozy to sleep with.”
   • Staff member Monique Platt adds that bootcampers may want to bring “…comfy shoes if they might want to go walk on the trails in the evenings.”

2. Give yourself a break. Bootcamp is an intense experience! We work up to eight hours of the day during bootcamp, often on violent crime cases which can be emotionally impactful. The IGG lab can be noisy, crowded and overstimulating when findings are made in a case.
   
   Taking frequent breaks is a form of self care. I recommend bringing noise-canceling headphones if you are overstimulated by noise, and taking walks as needed outside of the IGG lab to get some rest for your mind between periods of intense work. Don’t forget to learn more about self care at Tiffany Sowell’s presentation during the weekend of RIGG!

3. Bond with your teammates. Friendships have been forged at bootcamp which may last a lifetime. In the evenings, our bootcampers are known to play games and converse in the Bischoff Hall lounges. Additionally, you may want to organize a morning hike at the nearby Ramapo Valley Reservation ahead of the day’s work to refresh your mind and body for casework. Make it an all-day experience and something to remember!

4. Practice makes perfect! Do you remember the skills you learned when you attended the IGG certificate program? You’ll want to check in with yourself ahead of bootcamp to ensure you remember what you learned in class about selecting genetic matches, building and sourcing family trees, and documenting to ensure you are ready to work both UHR and violent crime cases at bootcamp! If there are some things you need a refresher on, we will have all six of our staff members on hand to help out.
   
   Don’t forget to communicate with your teammates during bootcamp – the whole point of having a collaborative, in person environment is to have the opportunity to talk in person with others working on the same case. This helps our work progress faster and increases the chance of solving a case in less than one week! You can get a feel of what the room will be like by viewing the photo album from 2024’s bootcamp here. 
   
   
5. Attend the alumni party. Our 2025 bootcampers are all graduates of our IGG certificate program – which means they are eligible to attend our alumni party! If you’ve got your ticket already, you can look forward to a fantastic evening of bonding with those from your certificate program cohort as well as others who have graduated from Ramapo’s IGG programs. It’s a great way to close out the bootcamp experience and settle into RIGG weekend… and we are counting down the days!

Ramapo IGG Alumni at the 2024 alumni party

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