So after I wrote down every detail of what I did during my two weeks at summer camp I realized that it would be just plain boring to post it here. No one is going to read it anyways, and I'm sure you couldn't care less about every detail that happened for two straight weeks. So, I am resorting to describing my experience in a few short paragraphs rather than a novel (It takes up over 20 pages in my journal, and I'm not even done yet!).
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| IT Crew 2011! Represent! |
Anyways, my two weeks at summer camp were simply... amazing. wonderful. magical. outstanding. fantastic. extraordinary. marvelous. And even all these adjectives don't even come close to the experience I had at camp. I found myself so comfortable with a group of 31 other teens that I had just met. We became a family, and I've been home for almost two weeks now, and yet, it doesn't feel like "home". Camp feels like my home.
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| Here are our lovely faces again! |
I feel like us 32 teens truly grew as individuals over the course of the two weeks. We became more mature, we had to live up to the expectations of our counselors and coordinators. We had a responsibility to the campers to give them the best experience possible. To make them want to come back. To make them see why we love camp so much, and why we keep coming back every year. Because we love it. The scenery, the fact that it is so far away from everything and everyone makes you feel as though you're living in a bubble. In your own, beautiful, perfect bubble. I don't really know how else to describe it other than that. To breath the fresh air, and be surrounded by towering trees who's branches sound as though they sing in the wind. You can hear them softly brushing... To feel the soft dirt beneath your feet. Indescribable.
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If you look really close you can see a person up there!
No joke. |
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The caption for this on Facebook
was "Giant meets dwarf"
so true... |
We learned how to solve conflicts between kids, taught them how to interact with each other, how to be a good role model for them, and to lead them in group activities. Also we learned how to organize an event and how to lead a group to finish the task quickly and efficiently. Our counselors trusted us to organize, decorate, and host a talent show, a dance, and a carnival. I especially had fun this year more so than my previous years at camp, because being an L.I.T. (leader in training) actually gave me a purpose for being at camp. The experience was more fulfilling because I knew that I was making a difference for all those kids that were at camp those two weeks. That I was facilitating those campers in having as good of an experience that I was. Some of the kids were truly wonderful human beings. The way they would look at you and you knew that they looked up to you so much. And that they were appreciative towards you. That they wanted to be your friend. That they accepted you no matter who you were, what you wore, what you looked like. And that is the most amazing gift I think one human can receive from another. The gift of unconditional acceptance.
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| Two of the most amazing people I met at camp! |
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| Here we are again! |
As for the 31 other people I spent most of my time with, they were all individuals that all had their own skills to bring to the table. Whether it be for helping us decorate for the dance or the talent show. Or for coming up with good games for the carnival. There was so much diversity in our group. People of all different races, people from different backgrounds, rich people, poor people, tall people, short people etc. We even had two boys from Germany (which were VERY cute if I may say so myself! And yes, I did do a little bit of flirting. It was successful might I add.) and another boy who traveled all the way from Thailand! This provided us insight on the way other people live, and insight on cultures other than American. I made some really good friends during my stay at YMCA Camp Jones Gulch, and I really hope to maintain them until next year. I am planning on being a C.I.T. (counselor in training) next year and then after than a J.C. (junior counselor) and perhaps after that, I can be a counselor.
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| Acting silly at the Carnival! |
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| Another amazing girl I met at camp! |
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Yes, there are two people.
Yes, there is one jacket. |
This was pretty much our camp motto, camp song, camp everything. It truly is somewhere only we know, and we love it.
