Chapter 1-The Deal

Beca Mitchell was seventeen the summer that she got roped into working at summer camp for kids interested in the arts. She had wanted to head to L.A., to intern with a record label, but her father had told her she was way too young for that kind of adventure. Beca's father was the Dean of the English Department at Barden University, and through his connections at the College, was able to get Beca a position at Camp A' Capella in the mountains of North Georgia. Beca hated everything about the outdoors, and this was not the summer she had planned for herself. She imagined her days would be spent in the Los Angeles music scene. At nights she would go hear famous DJ's...see great music at the House of Blues, and Whiskey a Go-Go.

No, spending the summer teaching music to kids was not what she had planned at all. I mean she might as well be babysitting for the summer. How was this going to get her to the next level in her DJ career?

When Dr. Mitchell first approached his daughter about the camp, Beca was completely adamant that she would not go. There was no way that her father was going to pressure her into something she did not want to do. If he was un-supportive of her LA trip, she would stay at home for the summer months and continue working at her job at the radio station. At least she would have plenty of time to work on her mixes. However, Dr. Mitchell had suggested that if she would follow-through with the camp position, he would allow her to at least apply to colleges in Los Angeles, and if accepted he would pay half the tuition. With this assistance...she knew with a small student loan, and her own savings, she could make the transition to L.A. as soon as she graduated. The temptation was way too much to resist, so Beca Mitchell immediately phoned Aubrey Posen, the Camp Director and accepted the position as the Modern Music and Technology Activity Leader for Camp A' Cappella. Her role would be simple, as she understood it, she would prepare and teach 5 to 6 lessons per day of the multi-age camp kids. Although she had never worked with kids, the job sounded easy enough. The pay was abysmal, but she wouldn't be working for the money, at least not the camp's money. She would be there to prove to her father how serious she was about her music and this was her ticket to LA.

When her welcome packet arrived from Camp Director Aubrey Posen, she quickly understood that this would not be a posh and elite environment. From the packing list, she gathered, that she would be sleeping in a tent for the summer, in the woods in North Georgia, and Beca was not outdoorsy. This concerned her greatly. She had not prepared herself for the idea of a rustic summer camp. To think that she would not have WiFi in all areas was a concern, and it sounded as though even electricity was only available in the camps common rooms and staff house. How would she be able to survive in such a primitive environment?

She immediately picked up her keys and headed out to the nearest Apple store to stock up on an extra laptop battery and a solar-powered recharging kit for her laptop. It was a huge expense, and would be equal to her salary for the entire summer, but easily worth it in the long run she thought, because without her music, Beca would simply be lost.

A few more items were on her list, so she headed across the street to the REI store. Now, Beca was not a fan of spending money on anything that wasn't related to her music, but the packing list sent to her by Aubrey was pretty specific, and she didn't want to be out in the middle of B.F.E. without as many comforts as possible.