4-H Summer Camp

2012 Summer Series: Blog postings of my summer experiences of 2012.  I had become busy enough to not have time to write about most of my summer until now.  The blogs wont be in full details like other years, and mainly because of my lack of time to write.  Most my time is focused on school.

4-H Summer Camp--June 30 to July 7, 2012

     This year would be a different type of year at camp compared to the past few years.  This year, I had been asked to be an adult director of camp.  I had agreed, and it would be the first time being on camp staff since I was a youth director back in 2005.  I was adult director of team 4, and our team's theme was the best theme ever!  Star Wars!  All of camp staff met in Lake Arrowhead on June 30 to do final preparations for the camp.  We met in the day time at a leaders' house, then at night spent the night at a few time shares at the Lake Arrowhead Resort near North Bay.  The biggest thing I did was to teach the camp staff one of the Science, Engineering, and Technology (SET) activities all the campers will be working on.  I taught the staff the compass activities since I was the only adult director that fully understood how compasses work.  One fun thing the staff created was a music video to call me maybe.  You can watch the video at this link.  The next day, we all packed up and headed over to Camp Seeley, off highway 38 in Crestline for a week long camp.

     Each team is responsible for different responsibilities of camp.  My team was responsible for the camp office, the gold rush activity, and cook appreciation.  The office was a challenge to keep going, and to keep my staff in there during camper's free time in the afternoons, but things came together.  Gold Rush went really well compared to past years.  The biggest issue we have with Gold Rush are campers getting hurt since it is done in the dark.  This year, we made sure we used as many glow sticks as possible to mark hazards and the boundaries to the game out on the field.  No one got hurt this year, or from my understanding anyway.  My team worked real well together.  My biggest issue was communication before camp had began.  I had become an adult director three months before camp had began.  The past adult director for team 4 had resigned, and I was asked to fill in their shoes. 

     Camp this year, by the camper's view, went real well.  One thing I love about camp is being able to see campers grow up.  You also get a special family type bond with the campers.  Two years before this camp, I had returned as a chaperone and was a cabin leader.    I had grown to have a bond with the campers in my cabin, and each year that bond seems to stay together and become stronger.  A year ago, same thing.  I had a new cabin with new campers, and we had a family style bond with each other.  This year, seeing those campers become staffers and to work with them to hold on a camp was one amazing and awesome experience.  It really makes you feel good about being a volunteer.  This year at camp, everyone made our own flag shirts for 4th of July.  I really loved the shirt idea, and I was amazed I was able to make a good shirt.  There was some drama based on how the shirts should be and the staffers, but things worked out in the end.  One of the adult chaperones, who came last year, brought up para cord 500 for each camper to make a survival bracelet. At first I wasn't going to make one, but after awhile, I decided it would be fun.  

     No matter what position you are in at camp: Camper, Staffer, Adult Staffer, Chaperone, Support Staff, eta; there are always learning lessons that help you grow into a better person.  Some of those lessons are good and others are not so great.  This year was one hetic year.  One of the biggest issues was we had many new staffers with little training in leadership positions.  There became a great deal of issues with the higher camp staff leadership, and as an adult director, it took up a good amount of time working on while at camp.  I have been to a good amount of camps, and this year would have to be the year I have seen the most people cry because of drama and other issues.  I will admit.  At one point, I had a break down point where I cried for a few moments.  I had held it in while in front of the staffers, but when we took a break from a meeting, and I was alone with a few adult directors who have seen me grow up through the 4-H program and camp, I had let it out.  It was a challenge being an adult director for the first time, especially when I was a director along with three directors who have years of experience in the position.  I felt like the underdog at times, because I did not have the experience to handle a few situations, but I knew that everyone had to start somewhere.  This year had been one big learning lesson, and I left camp a stronger person than I ever have.  I loved being an adult director, and I will plan to apply to be one for the 2013 4-H Summer Camp.