Well the first week came and went. I must say to everyone that this is the biggest job and most interesting job I had before. I remember being a camp counselor before about 11-12 years ago, but this is so much different than that. Here is how my week went:
Monday:
- The first thing I did was go attend a staff meeting. This is something the staff does at the beginning of the week. From there I got my picture taken for my id card that opens my dorm room and other buildings.
- Went to the lodge to get a list of my campers for the week. I worked with another counselor named Dan, and he did a great job showing me what I needed to do throughout the week.
- We then went back to the dorms for a few minutes before the campers arrived.
- Right before they arrived, we went back to the cabin where the campers stay and prep their beds. - Then we picked up our campers. My first week had three campers (Josh, Andrew and Andy), all really cool guys.
- We took the campers to get physicals.
- The campers, Dan and I went back to the lodge and chilled until it was time for lunch
- Had a good lunch
- After lunch, the campers went back to the cabin and rested for about an hour and 45 minutes, where the staff went back to the dorm and chilled themselves (all but 3 counselors, who stayed back in the lodge for rest duty, which happens daily when there are campers).
- After rest, the campers first activity was going skiing. This was fun, very cold because it is hella cold here in Iowa. They did a little cross-country skiing which a lot of the campers really got into.
- From there my campers went to the nature building where we seen a lot of cool animals. A couple of the campers got a chance to feed some of them, like the fish. They got a chance to pet a turtle, a ferret, and another animal that I can't seem to recall what it is exactly. They all had a good time
- The group went to the lodge and played nature games until dinner
- Had a great dinner
- Then everyone, staff and all groups, came together and did a karaoke night where the campers got up and some of the staff as well, sang some pretty cool songs. That lasted until about 8:30pm
- Then we took the campers back to the cabin and prepped them for bed.
- After all campers were in bed, the counselors called it a night and went back to the dorms.
That was an example of what we did throughout the week. I will keep everything short and talk about the major things we did or I did during the week.
Tuesday:
The activities we did on Tuesday include making super smores in the morning after breakfast. The campers seem to enjoy that. Then from there, we went on a scavenger hunt were we had to find things on a list created by our activities specialist. Some things were outside and some were in. Then we went to the arts and crafts building to make mardi grass masks for the mardi gras dance later on in the evening. After lunch, the campers went swimming in the pool that we have over here. I was kind of leery about going swimming since it is so darn cold, but the pool is about 85 degrees so when I went in, it felt just right. We stayed in the pool for a short period of time, then got out and showered off. From there we headed back to the lodge to prep for the dance and kill some time for dinner. After dinner was the mardi gras dance, where people from all over came and danced with us. That was the last activity for the night
Wednesday:
The first activity was prepping the the egg dropping event that is going to take place this evening. What we did here was come up with an idea that when we drop an egg about 8 feet, it shouldn't break. The campers came up with some cool ideas. After that the campers went to go see some horses and go to the eiffel tower event, while I stayed back and had a two hour talk with Jeanne, the camp director, and Shannon, the Volunteer director. I talked to her about a few things that I had on my mind as well as Jeanne going over some of the camp rules and counselor's responsibilities with myself and Michael, the other BVSer, who came the same night I did. Then after lunch, my camping group went back to the arts and crafts building to paint tee-shirts. From there we went sledding and tubing down this hill that's across the street on the lodge. Sledding was cool because I never been on the sled and it was my first time. The campers really enjoyed this one. Dinner came, and after dinner, we feed the birds. After the bird feeding, we went to drop our eggs. The campers got on top of this big ball that was blown up about 6-7 feet and then attempted to toss the egg to the ground. The eggs were padded with cotton and other card board materials to help protect it. Most of the eggs broke, but there were a few that survived. After that the evening was over.
Thursday:
The first activity of the day was archery. The group took turns shooting a few types of bow and arrows. Some of them really got into this. Then it was the canoe activity where we went back to the pool and the campers got into the canoe that was brought out for this session. The lifeguard, who is an activities specialist stirred them a couple times around the pool. The guys enjoyed this one as well. After the canoe activity, we headed to the snoozle room, where it was just a place to go and chill for about an hour until lunch. After lunch and rest hour, we went back to the pool for another swim session. After that was over, we went to the gym for a little floor hockey. One of guys in the group really got into this. We did this until dinner. After dinner we stayed in the lodge and had a carnival, where there was wheel of fortune being played as well as throwing ping pong balls into a box full of separate holes. Then there was a place where you throw bean bags into the hole into the wall. I helped with that one. After the carnival was over, we all called it a night.
Friday:
Basically, Friday was pack up and go home day. Before that we had an awards assembly to give our campers what kind of awards they earned throughout the week. I handed Josh the award for Recreation because he would be willing to do try any of our recreational activities and be good at it. After the awards were over, we had lunch and after lunch, the campers were picked up and headed home.
Well what can I say about my first week. I still have so much learning to do because being a counselor over here after sitting in an office for 2 1/2 years its mentally draining me right now. I am going to give myself time to get adjusted to everything. Without much training, its very difficult but I will give it all I got. I am trying to keep my head up. Things are going to get much tougher for me, but I am willing to go through this challenge because it something that I needed to go through before I retire as a BVSer. I hoping that this changes my life in so many ways. So far its a good start.
Monday:
- The first thing I did was go attend a staff meeting. This is something the staff does at the beginning of the week. From there I got my picture taken for my id card that opens my dorm room and other buildings.
- Went to the lodge to get a list of my campers for the week. I worked with another counselor named Dan, and he did a great job showing me what I needed to do throughout the week.
- We then went back to the dorms for a few minutes before the campers arrived.
- Right before they arrived, we went back to the cabin where the campers stay and prep their beds. - Then we picked up our campers. My first week had three campers (Josh, Andrew and Andy), all really cool guys.
- We took the campers to get physicals.
- The campers, Dan and I went back to the lodge and chilled until it was time for lunch
- Had a good lunch
- After lunch, the campers went back to the cabin and rested for about an hour and 45 minutes, where the staff went back to the dorm and chilled themselves (all but 3 counselors, who stayed back in the lodge for rest duty, which happens daily when there are campers).
- After rest, the campers first activity was going skiing. This was fun, very cold because it is hella cold here in Iowa. They did a little cross-country skiing which a lot of the campers really got into.
- From there my campers went to the nature building where we seen a lot of cool animals. A couple of the campers got a chance to feed some of them, like the fish. They got a chance to pet a turtle, a ferret, and another animal that I can't seem to recall what it is exactly. They all had a good time
- The group went to the lodge and played nature games until dinner
- Had a great dinner
- Then everyone, staff and all groups, came together and did a karaoke night where the campers got up and some of the staff as well, sang some pretty cool songs. That lasted until about 8:30pm
- Then we took the campers back to the cabin and prepped them for bed.
- After all campers were in bed, the counselors called it a night and went back to the dorms.
That was an example of what we did throughout the week. I will keep everything short and talk about the major things we did or I did during the week.
Tuesday:
The activities we did on Tuesday include making super smores in the morning after breakfast. The campers seem to enjoy that. Then from there, we went on a scavenger hunt were we had to find things on a list created by our activities specialist. Some things were outside and some were in. Then we went to the arts and crafts building to make mardi grass masks for the mardi gras dance later on in the evening. After lunch, the campers went swimming in the pool that we have over here. I was kind of leery about going swimming since it is so darn cold, but the pool is about 85 degrees so when I went in, it felt just right. We stayed in the pool for a short period of time, then got out and showered off. From there we headed back to the lodge to prep for the dance and kill some time for dinner. After dinner was the mardi gras dance, where people from all over came and danced with us. That was the last activity for the night
Wednesday:
The first activity was prepping the the egg dropping event that is going to take place this evening. What we did here was come up with an idea that when we drop an egg about 8 feet, it shouldn't break. The campers came up with some cool ideas. After that the campers went to go see some horses and go to the eiffel tower event, while I stayed back and had a two hour talk with Jeanne, the camp director, and Shannon, the Volunteer director. I talked to her about a few things that I had on my mind as well as Jeanne going over some of the camp rules and counselor's responsibilities with myself and Michael, the other BVSer, who came the same night I did. Then after lunch, my camping group went back to the arts and crafts building to paint tee-shirts. From there we went sledding and tubing down this hill that's across the street on the lodge. Sledding was cool because I never been on the sled and it was my first time. The campers really enjoyed this one. Dinner came, and after dinner, we feed the birds. After the bird feeding, we went to drop our eggs. The campers got on top of this big ball that was blown up about 6-7 feet and then attempted to toss the egg to the ground. The eggs were padded with cotton and other card board materials to help protect it. Most of the eggs broke, but there were a few that survived. After that the evening was over.
Thursday:
The first activity of the day was archery. The group took turns shooting a few types of bow and arrows. Some of them really got into this. Then it was the canoe activity where we went back to the pool and the campers got into the canoe that was brought out for this session. The lifeguard, who is an activities specialist stirred them a couple times around the pool. The guys enjoyed this one as well. After the canoe activity, we headed to the snoozle room, where it was just a place to go and chill for about an hour until lunch. After lunch and rest hour, we went back to the pool for another swim session. After that was over, we went to the gym for a little floor hockey. One of guys in the group really got into this. We did this until dinner. After dinner we stayed in the lodge and had a carnival, where there was wheel of fortune being played as well as throwing ping pong balls into a box full of separate holes. Then there was a place where you throw bean bags into the hole into the wall. I helped with that one. After the carnival was over, we all called it a night.
Friday:
Basically, Friday was pack up and go home day. Before that we had an awards assembly to give our campers what kind of awards they earned throughout the week. I handed Josh the award for Recreation because he would be willing to do try any of our recreational activities and be good at it. After the awards were over, we had lunch and after lunch, the campers were picked up and headed home.
Well what can I say about my first week. I still have so much learning to do because being a counselor over here after sitting in an office for 2 1/2 years its mentally draining me right now. I am going to give myself time to get adjusted to everything. Without much training, its very difficult but I will give it all I got. I am trying to keep my head up. Things are going to get much tougher for me, but I am willing to go through this challenge because it something that I needed to go through before I retire as a BVSer. I hoping that this changes my life in so many ways. So far its a good start.
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