CanisiusPsychologyWiki : KaimeesaS
PopularPages AllPages RecentChanges Change settings/Logout Search: You are KaimeesaStevenson Kaimeesa Stevenson
Sunday 6/21/09
Leaving home, when I just got back from school was going to be hard. Being away the whole school year, and then leaving again for the summer was tough on me and my family. The summer time is when I’m supposed to be with my family, but I knew by going away to sleep away camp, Trade Winds Lake Camp, in Windsor N.Y, I was facing a wonderful, challenging experience. I got up early because I had to be at the bus at nine am, and needed to finish packing. I got up at about six. At about seven thirty my mom and I got on the train to head to my destination and my “summer of a life time.” This was a statement that they used at camp. Welcome to camp trade winds, where people experience “a summer of a life time.”
I gave my mom a kiss, and said goodbye. I then introduce myself to the fellow counselors. Our bags were put on the bus, and we were off to camp. It was like going away to college again. I didn’t know anyone, neither did I know what to expect, but I was up for the challenge. The bus ride was three hours long, but while on the ride, I got to know people who I would remember for the rest of my life, these counselor were all from New York City just like me. They were from place like the Bronx, Harlem, Queens and Brooklyn. There were only two of us from the Bronx.
When we arrived at camp, we had a good welcome. There were counselors there already, and when we got off the bus they were yelling and clapping, happy for our arrival. These counselors were from all over the world, such as England, Holland, Poland, and Spain. They got the job at the sleep away camp through this program called camp America. In this program the counselors are required to work until camp is over, and then they can travel for a few weeks, if their visa allows it. Camp American provides the visa for the people they choose to send to America. It is a really great experience for people from different countries.
We were assigned to our cabins, all the girls were in cabin number two, and the boys were in cabin five. We were told to unpack our cloths and then meet in the Rec-hall for a meeting. At this meeting we play “ice breakers” to get to know each other. Ice breakers are games that people who do not know each other play. Some of these games were games in which we had to tell two truths and a lie. In this game we tell two things that are true about ourselves and one lie, and everyone has to guess what the lie is. This gives each person a chance to get to know something about each other. We also played knots, in this game we get in a circle, and hold hands with someone across from us. This cause we to be in a “knot” and we have to untangle ourselves without breaking hands. They taught us these games so we could know some games to play with the kids; when they arrived the following week.
We then had dinner in the dining hall, and were told we were free for the rest of the day. It was about 8 pm, when we were done. The head stuff suggested we go to bed, because tomorrow was going to be a long day. It was the going to be the first day of training, and we had to be up by 7:30am. I did not go to bed, but I did go in my cabin a talk to the other girl. I found out that most of them worked there before, and they told me it was hard but fun. We talked until about 10:30 pm, and then decided to go to bed. We were all excited about the next day. The only problem was getting 7:30am.
Monday 6/22/09
The next morning I woke up at 7 am, all the other girls were sleeping, so I just laid there thinking. Thinking about how nervous I was. I was nervous about working with the children, because even though I worked with children in the past, I never lived with the children I was working with. At 7:30 there was a wakeup call over the loud speakers. They (one of the head staff members) announced that it was time for us to get up and start our first day of training. We were told we had to be ready by 8 am, so we could eat breakfast, and then start training. Many of the girls were still sleep, and since I’m a morning person I was happy. I happily woke everyone who was asleep up and told them with the announcement. Many of them were cranky, and did not want to get up that early but we had no choice, we had to get ready for a long day of training.
At 8am we went to breakfast in the dining hall, ate and talked a little. Head staff told everyone that we were to meet in the Rec-hall at 9:30 and we could not wear flip flops of sandals. We could only wear sneakers. At 9:30 all the counselors met in the Rec-Hall, we waited for head staff to come. When they finally did come, they informed us that we were going to break up into groups and that we have to remain with that group until the end of the week. A head stuff member was going to be with us, and we were going to do many different activates. In our group we had to come up with a name for ourselves, and we were going to be competing against the other groups.
Before they told us which groups we were in they told us the rules. The rules were really hard because it took us away from our normal lives, they were as follow,
1. No cell phones/electronics in the cabin.
2. No candy or foods in the cabin.
3. On our days off we could not bring the children anything from outside camp.
4. No relationships at camp.
5. No campers are allowed to walk around camp without a counselor, unless it is an emergency, and in case of an emergency two campers are to be sent to get help.
6. No sandals or flip flops are to be worn.
7. No jewelry.
8. Days must be planned for the children, no lying around in the cabin.
9. The children we to write in the journals every night, In order to move up to the next level. (In the journal the children wrote about their day, or how they felt, and the counselors were to write back to them. There were also different levels. Levels one through four, and these levels came with different privileges. You could tell which level the child was on by the different bracelets they wore, and the number of beads they had.)
10. The children were to be given beads, every day.
11. The children had to write letters home, at least three times a week.
12. We had to come up with a cypher project, to present on the last night of came,
13. We had to come up with the name of our group within the first week of camp, so people could know who we were.
14. We had to keep the cabins cleaned, and they would be inspected every day. But it would be fun because it would be a competition between the cabins, and the winner won the “golden sponge” at the end of the week.
There were many different rules at camp because the goal was for the children to experience different things, a life away from home. These rules were also for the counselors, and it was really hard, going most of the summer without my cell phone.
After they explained the rules to us, they told us which head staff member we would be with for the week. They also told us we would be going on a survival hike at the end of the week. A survival hike is hiking in the woods, we had to make fire, cook food, and build tents to sleep in. I was really scared because I never slept in the woods, and I was worried about animals attacking me. I told head staff about my fear, and they told me not to worry because the animals that were there did not attack. There were dears, and spiders, that were harmless.
After finding out about the hike we were put into our groups. I was with Anna (head staff) and the other counselors were, Danny (who was a life guard), Emma (who was cypher support), Richard (activity specialist), and Nicole (who was a counselor, like me). We called our selves Hot Chilly, we came up with that name because everyone in our group loved hot sauce; we all ate hot chill hot sauce; for the rest of the week would be eating together and doing activates together. We also got swim tested together. The life guards were the only ones who did have to be swim tested. It was going to be an interesting, but fun week.
While in our group we had to do many team building activities. Such as building a sling shot to shoot balls really far. The goal of this was to bring us together; it brought us together because we had to work as a group. The goal of the sling shot was to shoot the ball really far, as I mentioned before. We had to make our ball go further than all the other groups. This was a really fun activity, although we lost. Team building games were one of the games we were going to have to play with the children, it was really fun, and forced as to think and work together. After the games we had lunch and dinner, we were told to go to bed, because it would be another long day.
Tuesday and Wednesday 6/23/09
The third and fourth day of camp was just like the second, we played games, and did more team building activate.
Thursday 6/24/09
Today was we found out which age group we would be working with for the summer. I was told I would be in cabin three, with age’s ten to twelve. When I found that out, I was upset, I thought working with the younger children, from age’s six to nine, would be fun. I later found out that the age group I was working with was the best, and I was happy that I had that group. The counselors that I shared a cabin with were Christiana, and Angela. Angela did not have a cypher group like me and Christiana, because she was hired to teach dance. We were told to move in our cabins, and that they had to be cleaned a decorated by Sunday, because that was the day the children were coming. We had three days to get everything together. We had to make names for the beds, and cubbies, and make the cabin look nice so the children could feel welcome.
When I found out I was living with Christiana, I was nervous because we were so different, but the first session ended up being really fun, and we got along really well. It was like we were sisters.
This was also the day, counselors, from trailblazers come to trade winds. One of the owners of trade winds, also owned trailblazers, and he thought it that be good if we trained together. There camp was more intense than ours. They slept in tents every night, and they were around many wild animals. At their camp they had BEAR training because there were many bears there. One of the counselors told me she came about 10 feet away from a mother bear, and her cubs. I would have loved to see that. She said that she kept going closer and when the bear noticed; it looked at her and ran away. That would have been scary and dangerous if the children were there. Lucky for trade winds we didn’t have bears, we did have bats, which were scary, but they didn’t bother us. The counselors from trailblazers came kind of late, so we had dinner with them, and hung out for a little while. We did not do any activates that not, but we all went to bed early because we knew we would have had to get up early.
Friday 6/25/09
We had a lot of fun with the Trailblazers counselors. They were really nice, and it was nice to meet more people. These counselors came from, Haarlem, the Bronx, and Austria. It was fun training with them. We did the same activities we did on the other days but there were more people, which meet more competition. At the end of the day we were free to do what we wanted. We played a basketball game, trade winds, vs. trailblazers. We stayed up late on this day because the trailblazer’s consolers were leaving in the morning, and we were going on our survival hike that night. I was really scared, but I had no choice but to go.
Saturday 6/27/09
We woke up early to say bye to everyone from trailblazers. We were told we had a break from training today, because of the hike. Head staff advised us to fix up the cabins, because they were going to check to make sure everything was clean, and decorated for the children. They said we could sleep as well because we would have time to decorate before the children came tomorrow. The counselors in my cabin all decide to sleep we planned on staying up all night because we did not want to sleep in the woods. We were told we had to be ready by six in order to leave for the hike. We slept until about four; they got up, and cleaned the cabin. We decided we would decorate tomorrow before the children came. At six we left for the hike, we had to walk through the woods, and across the little lake, I was so happy I wore water boots because many people feet were wet from walking across the lake. When we got to the camp site, we were put in groups. Some people had to cook (I was in that group), some people had to look for sticks, and the last group had to build the tents for us to sleep in.
The hike ended up being really fun. I learned how to build a fire, and cook over it. We cooked ground beef, carrots, and potatoes. We made a little bag out of foil, and put the food in it. We then put butter and season salt, and put it over the fire. The food ended up being really good. I thought it was better than the food at camp. After all the tents were up and everyone ate, we sat around the camp fire telling stories. It was really fun,
Sunday 6/28/09
We got up really early, I thought I was not going to go to sleep but I laid down and the next thing I knew it was morning. It was really nice waking up outside in the woods by the lake in nature. Nobody wanted to eat, so we headed back to camp. Today was the day the children were coming, and we had to practice our introductions. I planned on doing a step, because I wanted to entertain the children, and show them something they could learn if they wanted to. When we got back to the shower, we showered and assigned beds and cubbies for the children. We put encouraging signs up, and different quotes that would try to encourage the children. We made the cabin as colorful as possible, and we made a sign for the outside of the cabin. It said “Welcome to cabin three the greatest place on earth.” we mad that sign really colorful, and welcoming.
After we ate lunch we practiced the song we were going to sign for the children. We learned it during our training. We were singing a high school musical song, called were all in this together. We changed some of the words, and made it a camp song. After we practiced the song we had to put on our trade winds shirts, and meet by the steps were the children were coming. We were giving a number, and the children were supposed to go with the consular that had their number. One of the head staff members called there name, and told them there number, and they would go with us.
When the bus came and the children got off it was really nice, we cheered, and clapped. We sang the song, and they seemed like they enjoyed it. We they got our groups, and took them off to the side. I had nine girls in my group. I was nervous because that was a large group of girls, but I tried to keep a positive attitude. We played a couple of ice breaking games, but most of the children already knew each other from previous years at camp. The children had to wait to go into the cabin, there medication, had to check into the nurses office. And the children had to be checked for lice. After they were checked we got their bags and went into the cabins, some of the children wanted to change beds, and I let them. The unpacked there cloths, until it was time for dinner. After dinner the counselors did there introductions and we sung our goodnight song. They finished unpacking, and it was time for bed. The girls did not want to go to bed on time, and I late them talk to each other for a little while after lights were out. It was their first day, and I wanted them to be comfortable with the girls they were living with.
Monday 6/29/09
Today was the first full day at camp with the campers. We woke up at 7:30 am, and had to be ready for breakfast at 8am. We went to breakfast; the children did not want to eat. They were too shy eat in front of each other. I ate my food, and after watching me for a little while eat they decided to join me. I told them lunch would not be until noon, and they were going to be hungry, so they ate.
I had a lot planed, although many of the girls were returning campers, there were some new girls. So I took the group on tour of the camp. The new girls loved it, and the returning campers complained that they saw the camp already. We also had to go to the library to pick books. The children were required to write two book reports in order to move up to the next level. They needed to be swim test, so they could be put in certain levels. The levels were split into 3 groups, porch which was level one and about 3 feet, deep, which was about six feet, and shark, which was about 9 feet. They split the lake this way, with the docks. It was a way of keeping the children safe, and allowing the children who could swim to have fun. Before the children were swim tested, they had to take a survey. The survey was asking questions about camp, and if the children ever attended camp. It asked if the children liked camp. The survey also asked if the about home life, such as siblings and who the children lived with. The main idea of the survey was to get to know the different children at camp. When the children were done with the survey it was time for lunch. We went to lunch and talked, I enjoyed getting to know the nine girls I had. They were from ages nine too eleven. They all lived in New York City, and came from different boroughs, such as Bronx, Queens, and Brooklyn. They were in this program that allowed inner city children who could not afford camp, come to camp for the summer. It was a really nice program that allowed underleveraged children to experience something they may have never had the chance to experience. After lunch we went back to cabin, the girls into their swim suits, and we headed to the lake so the girls could be swim tested. None of the girls in my group could swim, so they were all in level one. The swim test took about an hour. After the test we went back to cabin, the girls showered and changed. We then went with other groups and played some more ice breaking games. It was really cool the girls were opening up and it was only the first day. They all seemed to get along as well. It made me really happy, and made me look forward to a month with an amazing group of girls. After the ice breaker games, we went to dinner, and then the whole camp went to the gym. We played a song game. They split everyone into different groups by numbers, and the person in charge of the game says a word. Then they went to each group and the group had to sing a song with the word. It was really fun and forced everyone to work together. After the game it was bed time, we sung our good night song, had snack, and the girls were off to bed. When lights were out the girls asked me to read to them. I thought they were a little too old for me to be reading to them, but all the girls wanted me to read to them. They all said they were never read too. So I promised to read to them every night. The first book I read was about a boy who had powers. I read to them until they were all asleep, it was so nice, I felt like a mother, I just did not give birth.
Wednesday July/1/09
I missed writing in the journal for a couple of days, but we came off with the name our group. The girls decided to call themselves peace royalty. They made up a song, and step for the group. It was really cute, and everyone around camp knew who we were because they were always screaming there named. Today was also picnic lunch, in which we ate outside with our groups. We had picnic lunch every Wednesday.
Saturday July/4/09
I skipped a couple of days because it has been really busy but the first week of camp is going pretty well. The girls did not have any problems, and that was really good. Today is July fourth, and were going to have a party outside. The camp was split into groups, and each group had to come up with a performance for July fourth. Then perform in front on everyone. Many people made flags and talked about the importance of July fourth. Some people made up songs, and others came up with poems. It was fun seeing how creative the children could be. We also got to see fireworks, I think the children really enjoyed themselves, and so did the counselors.
Sunday July/5/09
Today was a fun day because we found out which cabin won the golden sponge. The grades are out of 100 points, and on two of those days our cabin received 98 points. So our cabin did not win. The cabin that won was cabin 8, and everyone was shocked because that was a boys cabin the oldest boys. The girls in my cabin were really upset, and we told them they had next week to win. Today was also the day of the first dance, every Sunday the children would have a dance. The dance started at 7:30 and ended about 8:30. The children really enjoyed themselves, watching them dance was fun. The children wanted the counselor to joy them in dancing, and most of us did.
Monday July/6/09
Today was the first day of the days off for the counselors. I had Fridays off, I was really happy about that. I had Fridays off with Emma, and Tim. It was going to be really fun, and the cabin three girls planned on winning the golden sponge this week. There were two groups in the cabin, my group, peace royalty, and Christina’s group, hot stinkers, they also had a song, so it was cool competing with them while we were in the cabin, and then coming together to compete against the other cabins. Cabin three was the best cabin, and I’m not just saying that because that was my cabin. This Friday was the talent show, called golden oldies. The children had to perform something from the 80s. My group decided to join the other group in my cabin, and I made up a dance for them to supersonic, by salt and paper. It was a really good dance, and the whole cabin participated. Even the girls that were shy decided to dance.
Tuesday July/7/09
Today was the first day of the green corn festival. The green corn festival is about the India tribes. The three tribes we used were Mowhocks, Seneca, and Cayuga. The whole camp was split into these groups and we had to compete against the other teams. I was on Cayuga, and my girls were split between the groups. We were required to do everything besides shower and sleep with our teams. The girls in my group were mad that they were split apart, but it was fun because they started to compete with each other about which team was better. Some games we played during the green corn festival were kickball, basketball, and ruby. We also had swim competitions, and knew races. These games involved the children as well as the campers. For example some for the swim competitions required a counselor and a lower camp camper. Ages 6-12 were the lower cabin, they were in cabins, 3, and 4 for the girls, and 5 and 6 for the boy’s cabin. The games were really entertaining. We also had t come up with songs for our groups, and the group who sung the loudest won.
Thursday July/9/09
Today was day three of green corn, there were more games, and the winner of the group would be accounted that night. We also spent a lot of time with our cypher group. We had to come up with a cypher project to present on the last night of camp. The girls in my group decided to put on a little play. The scene was them in school and they were talking about different countries. There were the “typical” children in the class, like the popular girl, the mean girl, the nerd and the foreign student. I played the teacher. The children really got into their roles. They were able to teacher people about different countries as well as make people laugh. After dinner we all went to top field, watch performances that the groups came up with, and was told that Cayuga won. We had the most points, the children, and the counselors in this group were really happy, we ended on a goodnight.
Friday July/10/09
Today was my first day off, and me and the other counselors were going into town, into Windsor New York. My girls were sad that it was my day off, and I was sad to leave them, but I needed the break. Many of the girls were starting to fight with each other. They were around each other a lot and were getting comfortable with one another, so they fought. Or they all ganged up on one person. It was tiring breaking up the fights. The girls were also getting home sick, and they would cry to me about it. I talked to them, and told them they were learning to be independent. I also told them their parents would be sad if they knew they were crying, so they had to be strong there were only two more weeks. Today was also the talent show, the golden oldies. And I missed it, but when I got back from town the children all ran to be, and told me cabin three won. The girls were so happy, and I was proud of them. They did not win anything, but they did have the title of the best performance at the talent show.
Sunday July/11/09
Today was the day we found out who won the golden sponge. We had to wait until dinner, but I had a feeling cabin 3, our cabin won, because we received 100 points all week. When dinner time came everyone was dying to find out who won, and cabin three won, the girls were so happy. The prize for having the cleanest cabin was a pie, but there was a trick to getting the pie, one of the counselors from the cabin had to catch the pie. The children picked the counselor to catch the pie by yelling, and they were three counselors in cabin three. All the children wanted me to catch it, I was kind of mad, but I had no choice. I went to the front, and everyone counted, on three they threw the pie, and I dropped it! The children in my cabin were mad because they did not get to eat the pie, but it was a fun.
Monday July/12/09
Time was really going fast in was the third week of camp. I grew really close to the girls. I felt as if they needed me. I felt like their mother away from home. It was a nice feeling.
Tuesday July 13/09
Today we worked on our cypher project all day. We had to make sure the children had all these facts correct about the countries they choose. Today was also the day all the girls in my group moved up to level three. They moved up and were able to get a radio for the cabin.
Thursday July/15/09
Today was movie day for the lower cabin; the upper camp had story time. The children watched robots. Many of them seemed to enjoy it. During the day they did different activities, such as dance, basketball, hiking, swim, or boating. Today was also the day we were leaving to go on our survival hike. The girls were scared about the hike, but I told them it was really fun when I went, and they would enjoy it. I also told them the food we ate was better the then food at camp. We left for the hike at dinner time, the camp provided us with the camping bags we needed and they provided us with the food we would cook. We had sleeping bags and tents, we were off to go. At the camp site, the children were split into groups, to get sticks, build tents, and cook. The helped them cook since I knew how to day it. Adam was in charge of the hike. He led us to the camping spot, made the fire for us, and helped the girls build the tent. The girls although they seemed scared did a lot of work. After we ate dinner, we had smores, and told stories. I did not want to tell a scary story because when I did in the cabin one of the girls cried. I told them the story about the camp “ghost,” old man cracker. The story was eat would take little children and eat them. They were really scared, it was supposed to be a joke, but one of the girls cried so we did not tell anymore scary stories.
Friday July/16/09
It was day two of the hike, the girls played many team building games, and played a game called find the egg. Sleeping in the woods was really nice, we did not have to wake up at 7:30 like we did at camp, and the girls had a little bit more freedom. They also enjoyed waking up in the woods. One of the girls in my group who had a handy cap got hurt on the hike, and she had to go to the nurse. Everyone was scared for her, but she ended up being fine, she did not sleep in the woods with us on the last day.
Saturday July/17/09
Today we returned to camp. When we go back the girls took a shower, and then went to lunch. W e went back to the normal activates. Some of the girls in the cabin had to sit out because they were fighting on the hike. But things were going ok; the children only had a couple more days at camp, because Thursday was their last day.
Sunday July/18/09
We lost the golden sponge to cabin four, the younger girls. The girls in my cabin were upset but they planned on winning it back for the last couple of days at camp. We also had counselor vs. camper volleyball, the counselors won.
Monday July 19/ 09
Today was the first day of the Olympics. The teams were Apollo, Zeus, and Poseidon. I was Poseidon. They split the camp into those three groups, the same as green corn. It was fun because we had to dress like Gods, and Goddess. We also had quit dinner, which was really hard and fun. At quit dinner we could not talk, if anyone talked or laughed they would lose points for their teams. All the teams were doing things to make the other teams laugh. And all the teams lost points.
Tuesday July 20/09
Today was the last day of the Olympics, and the day we present our cypher projects. We also had counselor vs. camper basketball. The counselors won; I was mad because I wanted the campers to win. Apollo won the Olympics, and the girls from my group who were on Apollo were really happy. It was a fun competition.
Wednesday July 21/09
Today was the children last full day at camp. They all seemed happy to be going home. They were ready to see their parents, because all they had from their parents for the past month were letters. They were leaving 10 am the next morning. It was also Oscar night, the children got awards, and we had to spend time together saying one thing about each other that no one knew. The camper of the session was picked, and then they had the last dances. The children had to get an invite to the last dance, and if their bags were not packed and the cabin clean they could not go. All the cabins got to go, and the party lasted until 10, instead of 8:30. When they played the last song, which was say goodbye by Chris Brown, all the children started to cry. It was sad, but I did not cry. I was happy because being a “mother” with nine children, all girls was really stressful. After the dance we went back to the cabin, I did not make the children go to bed; they stayed up until about midnight talking. They were saying that they did not want to leave; when earlier they were saying they could not wait to go home.
Thursday July, 22/09
We got up at the usually time, 7:30 to go breakfast, the last breakfast with session one. They were allowed to wear pajamas to breakfast. After breakfast we went back to the cabin to do last minute packing and cleaning. The 10 o’clock came, and the buses arrived. It was really sad the children were crying, and so were the counselors. I started to cry, and hug the children, watching the children, I spent four weeks with pull their suit cases to the bus was really sad. I knew I was going to miss them, and I told them I would keep in contact. After all the children left, we had to clean up the whole camp. We had to prepare for session two. We had two days to get everything together, because session two was arriving on Sunday. I was nervous about session two because all the counselors who worked there before told me that was the harder session because the children were bad. We had the rest of the day to ourselves, and mostly all of the counselors went to sleep. We needed the rest.
Saturday July, 24/09
Today the counselors had a cookout. It felt really good not to have the children around. Even though we all missed them, we all needed a break. First session was challenging. Although it was fun it gave me more patients, because those girls had bad attitudes, and wanted to fight a lot. Tomorrow the second group of children comes; we need to decorate the cabins again, and make sure the whole camp is clean. We practiced our song again, and made sure all our Tradewinds clothing was washed so the children knew who the counselors were, first session I was mistaken for a camper all the time. I guess that’s what happens when you look young.
Sunday July, 25/09
The campers arrived at about four, and few went through the same routine as first session. After everything was done the children unpacked, and we went to dinner. After dinner all the counselors introduced themselves and it was off to bed after that. The girls in my group seemed really nice, I had nine girls. There were twins in the cabin, one in my group and one in Christina’s group. They could sing really well; two more girls in my group could sing. They sung to me before they went to bed, and they really had talent. I had a junior counselor in my group to. They told me that I did really well the first session, and they wanted me to be her mentor. Those made me feel really good.
Friday July 31/09
I really did not have time to write, we went through the same routine as the first session but this one was difficult, because the girls did not want to listen. They all knew each other, expect for one girl. This made it harder because they were all comfortable with one another from day one. When it was time to be swim tested none of them wanted to be tested, they claimed it was “that time of the month.” Four out of the nine girls in my group took the test but the other five refused to get in the water. They did not want to get books either. They said they were not going to read them. I did not understand why the girls were acting like that, but as time went on my relationship with them got better. In fact I grew to be close to many of the children, even the ones who were not in my group.
Sunday August, 2/09
The girls were not in the run for the golden sponge. They claimed they did not care if they won it or not. The first week of camp was hard because the children did not want to listen. I knew I could be nice to them like I was with the first group. They needed me to be a little stricter. All the girls in my group for this session were 12 years old, and I think that’s why they were so rebellious. I was nice enough to get up at 6 so they could shower in the morning, and I told them if they did not listen they will not be able to shower until shower time, because I did not have to wake up every morning so they could shower. Most of them said fine, but there were the ones who said “they were getting in, and did not care what I said.” It was only the first week of camp, and I could not wait for it to be over.
Monday, August, 3/09
I found out I would be teaching dance this session. I was really happy about that because I loved dancing, and I loved teaching it. I was looking forward to a fun session, with a group of unique children.
Sunday August, 9/09
The second week of camp was better, the girls have leaned to respect me, but they fight with each other. One of the girls hit another girl because she was singing. She got in trouble for this, and could not participate in any activates. She said she did not care, and that she wanted to go home because she hated camp. This session was hard because the children did not want to listen. They still did try to win the golden and they were talked to by head staff almost every day. They were the toughest group in the camp. The girls even had to take classes on how to behave.
Tuesday August 11, 09
This was the week of green corn; the girls seem to be having fun. They also were happy about the cypher we were doing. We pick Indian and our goal was to design clothing from India, and model them on project night. I noticed that the girls listened when they wanted to, and I also noticed many of the girls loved music, so I signed them up for music classes with one of the counselors. I even helped them make up a song. Things were getting better.
Wednesday, August 12/09
Today was the talent show, many of the girls sang. It was really nice, and they
enjoyed themselves.
Thursday, August 13/09
Today was the day I got another girl into my group. She was having problems with her counselors and asked to be put in my group. This left me with ten girls, but it was not that bad because I had the junior counselor to help me.
Friday, August 14/09
Today was my day off, and I was so happy. I went to eat, and slept for the whole day. Those girls were a handful and I really needed the rest. Today was also the day the girls found a mouse, she was a baby field mouse, and she was really cute. They made a home for her out of a box, and named her Paige. This showed me that the girls could be caring.
Sunday, August 16/09
The third week of camp has finally camp. I wanted to leave as bad as the children, the girls were giving me trouble again, and I was ready to give up on them. I took them into the Rec-hall and talked to them. I found out that they all had a lot of people in their lives who gave up on them, and I asked them do they think it is because how the behaved. I told them I really cared for them, and if they cared for me they would make the last week of camp good. They would behave and stop fighting each other, they all agreed.
Monday, August 17/09
Today was the first day the girls really cleaned, and earned 100 points. I was really proud of them.
Tuesday, August 18/09
Today was the first day Olympics, and I was really happy about that because I could work with the other children, and not have to be with my girls all day. I felt bad for thinking that, but the girls were stressing me out. I needed a break from them. Today was supposed to be my day off, but during the last full week of camp no one had a day off. During the night my girls told me I looked happier with the other children, I felt bad that they noticed.
Wednesday, August 19/09
Today we were leaving for the hike. Our group got lucky because we only had to stay one night, while the other groups had to stay two. Our luck was not that good, because it rained really hard on the hike. All the counselors got really wet, because we were trying to build shelter for the children. It was a really bad hike, and the girls went back to fighting. It was also bad, because three of the girls were way in the back, and almost got lost in the woods. That was scary, but lucky they were safe, and the junior counselor was with them.
Thursday, August 20/09
Today was the last night of camp. We did the same routine as the first session; the only difference was the cypher project, which turned out really good. We had the best project. At the danced everyone cried, and they stayed up really late again. I could not wait until the next morning. I was ready to go home.
Friday, August/21/09
Today was the last day off camp, and I was leaving with the children. It was sad leaving the counselors who I spent two months with, but I was ready to go. I tried not to cry, but I could not help it. Even though the children were difficult I grew close to them, and it was hard leaving them and the counselors. It was also raining really hard that day. It was a sad, but happy day. I said goodbye to everyone, and got on the bus. I was riding with the boys. When we got home, the girls, bus and boy’s bus arrived at the same time; All the girls were introducing me to their parents, saying I was the best counselor they had. From that statement I knew I accomplished my goal, and made an impression in those girls’ lives.
[Edit] [Clone] [History] 2009-11-30 15:58:22 Owner: KaimeesaS Valid XHTML 1.0 Transitional :: Valid CSS :: Powered by WikkaWiki
