Week 5 - No camper week

Week 5 was not the average week. This week we didn't have any campers so we all just did projects around the camp. Michael and I had a list of things we did. I started out working with one of the other counselors trying to prep the group numbers to select which activities were going to do for the week. Then another project of mine was the clean out the bird feed. Michael helped with me that. Then the big project was to organize the garage a bit, starting with reorganizing all the skies. Michael, Stacy and I worked on that for a couple days. Just little things like that we did during this week. The weeks were shorter as well. It was an 8am-4pm week. Not the usual 50-65 hour week like we normally would do.

However we did have an even on Wednesday. We had our annual Spring Bash for some school groups in the morning. It only lasted about two hours but it was cool because a lot of kids came through and participated in some of the activities that were offered here at camp. Some of the kids went swimming so I had locker room duty, making sure kids to fight each other, LOL. It wasn't too bad. The event ended with a dance from 11:30am to past lunch. Then the rest of the day we all went back to our projects. That was the week.

Week 4 - Best week yet

Week 4 seemed to be the best so far. This week I got a group of campers who I really enjoyed. Not that I don't enjoy everyone else, but this particular group I had a lot more chemistry with. I worked with Britta, another counselor over here, for the second time and we seemed to work well with one another. The campers this week were Jim, Glenn, Harold, and Stephen. All for were independent on their personal care, which helped me out a lot. Everyone of them seemed to enjoy camp very much. That was my goal, to make sure every camper has a good time while they are here and these guys seem to have one.

This week we participated in the following events:

Monday:
Skeet shooting, Snow maze, and crazy hats. Then we had the karaoke / talent show for the evening event with everyone.

Tuesday:
We went swimming, archery, made a winter suncatcher, played kick ball, and made a kite. Looney Bin was our evening event. Looney Bin is a 3 event program, where one of the events I had my face painted by Glenn. He did a pretty good job if I must say so.

Wednesday:
In the morning we feed the animals, went to go see the horses, and then made pudgie pies. In the afternoon, we painted t-shirts, did a wall climb, and made pretzels. The evening event was swimming so we went in the pool for a little longer than usual. I really enjoy the evening swims. It makes the rest of the night go easier for some reason.

Thursday:
The morning events included dodge ball, in which everyone had a great time doing that. Then the group went canoeing. Everyone that went canoeing really seem to enjoy it. Then we went to the Nature center for the animal tracking activity. The afternoon events included creating door signs in arts and crafts building. This was something I looked forward to making during spring training. Then the group climb the eiffel tower ropes. From there we went miniature golfing outside, which seemed to be a bit chilly, Harold and Glenn had a great time hitting the golf balls around. After that, the evening event was the barn dance, in which I actually got out there and danced, had one of the best nights since I been here.

Friday:
Everyone had a great time. We all packed up our things, had breakfast, and my group went around to make sure the doors were locked and the alarms was working. After that we had lunch, and during that time awards were passed out. After that everyone went home.

This week was by far the best week, probably because it was the easiest week yet. But a look forward to the tougher weeks coming up. I want to challenge myself to see what I am about and what I am capable of doing.

Week 3 - Easier week

This post is for week 3. Week 3 seemed so much easier than week 2 so far. However I do believe that the longer I work here, the more comfortable I will be, which will make things easier in the long run. This week went well. We had a group of volunteers from Rice University come and give us a hand. I had two fella in my group and they did a wonderful job. Albert and Henry took care of a camper each because the campers seem to stay close with them. In my group we had 5 campers all together. Everyone of them were cool. Ellie was the other counselor assigned with me this week and she did an awesome job continuing to show me the ropes here at the camp.

This week the group participated in activities such as creating a birdseed angel just outside the nature center. From there we got to feed the animals. Two members of the group got a chance to go sledding, but the other members decided they didn't want to do it and went to the snoezleroom instead. Other things we did was have a talent night where most of the campers did karaoke. We also made orange bread, where you take out the center of the orange, fill it with Bisquick and cook it under in the fireplace for a few minutes. I never got a chance to get a taste, but they say it is good. Then we got a chance to make paper tube rockets in arts and crafts activity. Most of the campers enjoyed this activity. We all made are way to the pool to go swimming twice during the week. Finally we caped it off with a dance on the last night in the barn. Had a great time. It was a long and hard week, but it was good. My only complaint was that I caught a cold and it hasn't gone away yet, even as we speak, which upset me because I missed out on the Friday activities with the other counselors. Week 3 was a success to me.

Week 2 - Just For You Week

Let me say this. This week was the TOUGHEST WEEK OF MY LIFE. I put that in caps because I really want to make sure when I read this years from now, I will remember everything that happen this week. This is called "Just for you" week where the campers are getting one on one attention with the counselors and staff. I had this camper name Randy this week and he was cool camper. But he also tested my patience, big time. This was the first week where I had night duty as well. Night duty is where three counselors sleep with the campers in the cabin over night, making sure the campers personal care is covered at least 3 times at night (12 am, 3 am, 6 am). Lets just say that by Friday, I was tired. But I guess all I needed was my Friday afternoon nap and I was good to go.

To get back to Randy, he is guy who uses a wheelchair, but is able to move around a bit. What I mean by that is he is able to get himself onto his bed or a couch or go to the bathroom. Randy was able to do some things by himself but there are things that he definitely needed assistance with. To me, he was a great person to work with during my second week. I learned a lot about the job of being a counselor from working with him. I also learned that I have a lot of patience, patience that I never knew I could control. That is a great thing. Randy is great camper all together. He loves Mickey Mouse . When he was here, he loved to swim, and he loved his meals. This week we had the opportunity to do different things. Some activities he chose not to do, but did a great job encouraging is fellow campers. He loved seeing the animals, participating in archery, painting shirts, and chillin in the snoezell room. I am glad I got a chance to work with him, and if he comes back during my year I am here, then maybe it will be even better.

This week I got a chance to work with Britta and Mark, two other camp counselors who have been here a while and know the ropes. They really did a great job looking out for me, showing me how to do things, while I am still learning the job. I give them all the credit in the world for that because during this week I felt so overwhelmed that I didn't know if I could do this job or not. There were times I was so physically, emotionally, and mentally burned out that I didn't know what to do. But I think all that comes from not working in an environment like ever, that includes my two one-week sessions I did at Foothill Horizons back home in California 12 years ago. But when Friday hit, during the staff meeting, everyone thought I did a decent job with Randy this week, and confidence grew from that point on. I think at that point, I knew I was going to be ok, and that I know that this job is going to change me for a lifetime.