I just returned from my second year of working as a
counselor at The Hole In The Wall Gang Camp.
(Post #351) I had so much fun
last year that I decided to do it again!
 |
| The Newman cabin |
As I mentioned in my previous post, it’s difficult
for first-time female volunteers to get in.
Once you get in, they hold a spot for you for the next years. But if you skip a year, you lose that
spot. So in looking at my vacations for
the year, I knew something had to give, and I thought it would be camp. I like to carry over a few days as a cushion
and with my bike trips and other things that popped up (BCS game, Auburn
reunion), I was pushing it. After
crunching the days again I decided I had just enough days to do it. Although afterward, I thought I had made a
mistake. Maybe I was pushing myself to
do too much. Maybe I would have gotten
lucky in 2015 and gotten right in again.
I should have saved those days. I
later realized how blessed I was to be at camp again. But I am skipping ahead…
After the volunteer orientation (Volley-O) I felt a
lot less overwhelmed than I did last year.
However, I was surprised that I still had thoughts of not
returning. The first couple of days are
a bit scary for everyone, campers and counselors. Who will be in my cabin? Will they like me? How will everyone get along? Those feelings don’t change as you get
older. You do gain confidence more
quickly and it becomes easier, but those base feelings of inadequacy are still
there. At least they are for me. But after the girls arrived we settled into
our routines and had a blast.
This year my campers were 13 and 14 year old
girls. We were supposed to have eight
total, but two couldn’t come at the last minute. With six girls and five main counselors, we
didn’t have to worry much about coverage.
Four had (or were in remission from) cancer. One of these also had diabetes. The other had mitochondrial disease, which
basically makes her tire easily. The
description we were given is running a 4-cylinder engine on 2 cylinders. She was really active, but she rode in a cart
for long distances to conserve her energy.
 |
| No paparazzi! |
They all had great attitudes. One had a difficult experience at camp last
year due to cliques, etc. but she came back for another round and really
enjoyed her time year. It helped that
one of the volunteer counselors was her main counselor last summer.
We spent the week doing the usual activities, but we
also braided hair (again and again – “Can anyone fishtail braid?”) and painted
lots of fingernails. It was also
important to wear the right outfit. And
have the “natural smoky eye” for awards night. (Is there such a thing?) As much as the girls love all of the
activities, I think just hanging out in the cabin is great for them too. Just goofing off, laughing, talking,
etc.
This summer’s theme is Never Stop Climbing. The girls did a great job at that. They all tried new things. One had never ridden a horse. I went out in a paddle boat with her also. We didn’t last long, but we did it. She also caught a fish! And talent?
These girls had oodles of it.
Three got up on stage night and sang.
One in particular tugged at my heart.
She sang one of my favorite songs, “Keep Your Head Up.” Now this girl was very laid back and a bit
quiet. But whenever music came on she
knew all the words. I was surprised she
was going to sing at stage night because she had been a bit timid about other
activities. Another counselor was onstage
with her and they played the regular song over the speaker, so she didn’t sing
totally alone. But she owned the
performance. When she got to the chorus,
she sang, “You gotta keep your head up” and then pointed the mic out to the
crowd so we could sing, “Ohhhhhhh” and “Ehhhhhh”. She really got the crowd into it and it was
so amazing to see. I totally teared
up. I actually teared up a lot on stage
night, but this one was one of my girls.
Last year the song on the radio that reminded me of camp was “Cup
Song”. This year it will be “Keep Your
Head Up”.
 |
| sign in the horse barn |
My fellow counselors this year were Liz, Evann, Amy
and Krista, with Dani, Braelynn and Crystal dropping in from their other camp
duties. We had lots of laughs and I even
learned a new term – food baby. I have
since learned it’s a well-known term and I’m just behind the times. (For those like me who had never heard of it,
it’s when you eat too much and your stomach feels very full, like you are
having a baby. A food baby!) Amy is from England so everything she said
sounded so proper. Food baby and water
bottle were two favorites.
 |
| we pranked the Blue Unit by putting up some yellow signs on their cabins |
After a couple of days the week flew by as
usual. I stayed in LuLu’s Lodge again,
which is fine, but my roommate snored.
The first night I slept sporadically and finally got up at 3 a.m. to
sleep in the common area on the sofa. I
woke up every hour, it seemed, and finally went back to my bed at 7 a.m. By then she was quiet. Sigh.
I slept a little better the rest of the week and she quieted down a
little. Maybe I was just more
tired. Monday night was my turn to sleep
in the cabin with the girls. Ahhhh –
peace and quiet! They were so quiet it
was wonderful. Although the beds are kinda
hard and obviously short. I was never so
happy to get back to my comforpedic bed!
So back to me being blessed to be at camp again this
year. Being a part of this camp is an
interesting phenomenon. You go there
thinking you will have an impact on the campers’ lives. And you do.
But what happens is that they have a bigger impact on your life. You leave a changed person. Every time.
And any problems you might have left back home in the real world? They seem very insignificant compared to the
120+ kids at camp who are confronting potentially life and death battles.
On the last day of camp all the girls kept talking
about wanting just one more day of camp.
But then if you gave them one more day, they’d want another day, and
another, and camp would never end.
Actually, they would love that. I
wish we all could live in a mini camp bubble where there are no putdowns, no
physical violence and everyone knows how to have fun. At camp we talk about taking the spirit of
camp with you out into the real world. I
will do my best to do that. And I hope
to visit that magical place next summer.
Until then, never stop climbing!
No comments:
Post a Comment