Whoa. What an interesting start to camp! I've been here for about two and half weeks now and all I can say is whoa. Things have been crazy. It's like a rollercoaster ride that you can't get off of! Once you get started, you're on the ride till you finish.
This summer is a big step for me. Working at camp is nothing new, but this summer I'm working as a unit leader. I've done leadership roles before, but nothing like this. I've learned a whole lot and I've only had campers for a day and a half! Being in charge of a whole unit of campers and staff is a whole new ballgame. For a girl who had trouble choosing her snack at canteen, I've had to make quite a leap in making decisions and stepping up to the plate. I've been stretched in so many ways. I've learned a lot about myself as a leader and a person. I've learned that I'm definitely not a Type-A leader and organizer. I am surrounded by other unit leaders who are that way. It's been interesting to see how different personality types have worked together to help create camp.
What is written above is a post that I started during the summer but never finished. I never had time between being a unit leader and taking an on-line class with lots of work. Just going back and reading that and knowing how I felt about being unit leader at the end of the summer amazes me at the difference two weeks into the summer and eleven weeks later. I think I'm still processing it. I can't fully tell you all the things I learned. I did not have one huge lesson that I learned, but there were so many teaching moments. I learned that I am more patient than I realized. I learned that even though I don't like conflict, I can face it when I need to. I learned that I am doing a better job than I think I am because I am always so hard on myself. I learned that when it comes to crunch time, I try my best to get the job done and not worry about other things that do not need to be dealt with at the time. I learned that I am willing as a leader, to put aside my own needs and wants for others. I learned that I did impact people, whether I felt like I did or not. I was blessed with a good unit this summer. I would not have wanted it any other way. Each person in my unit taught me something.
At the beginning of the summer, if you had asked me if I would do unit leader again, I would have said no. Now, I think I could do it again. It was definitely challenging. But in the end, it was worth it. It's funny how God works. Two years ago, I left Mundo saying I would never return. And if I ever did, it definitely would not ever be as a unit leader. Well, hello, two years later, what to do you know? I'm a Unit Leader! :)
A friend asked me what was something I was truly proud of that I had done. One of the first things I mentioned was something that I did this summer which surprised me. Teaching an angel tree to camper to swim. There are several reasons why this is big. One. The fact that I got in the pool period is a big deal. The first summer, I got in the pool twice the WHOLE summer. That's it. This summer, I was in the pool almost everyday. There were maybe two days I wasn't. As a leader, I felt like I should set an example in spending time with the campers in the pool, even if I didn't want to. Practice what we preach. That's what I was going for. Second, I'm not a good swimmer at all. If I do get in the pool, I most certainly don't swim. I usually don't even take out my hearing aid and just stay in the shallow end. But for Junebug, I actually took the time to take her out of the shallow end and attempt to teach her to swim. Her favorite thing to do was to go underwater and hold our breath for like 10 seconds and then jump up. Junebug didn't talk too much and even smile a lot that week. But her smile was from ear to ear in the pool that day and she kept saying, "let's do it again!"
In a conversation with another friend about camp and being a unit leader, several interesting points came up. The point of regrets came up. I told her that I only had one regret. She seemed surprised by that and said that was good to only have one regret. Her response surprised me. My one regret is that I felt like I was not a good unit leader to one particular person. It wasn't that I was mean or bad to her. I just felt like by the end of the summer, I didn't know her as well as the rest of my unit and I felt like I could have invested more in her. But the person who I was talking to had actually talked to this person in my unit and what I felt didn't translate. This person actually felt that I was a good unit leader and I didn't sweat the small stuff and had a good attitude. This shows me that what we feel or see isn't always true. I've always been my harshest critic.
This is a long post about camp. But, it has a way of impacting you in ways you don't always realize. It surprises people sometime. :)
Have you ever done something that has left a lasting impression on you in different ways? Or is still possibly impacting you?
