I spent the past week with twelve 14 year olds. I got the opportunity to be their "junior counselor" for a leadership building camp.
This is what I learned:
Going into the camp I was definitely nervous. I thought that being only 6 years older than the kids, they would not respect me as an authoritative figure and simply someone who they thought it would be easy to push around and sneakily break the rules. Boy was I wrong!
We spent 5 days in the woods, in the middle of nowhere, with no one around but other kids, junior counselors, and older counselors. I was tasked the responsibility to push these kids to go out of their comfort zone, explore, discover, and open up to their peers and friends about their life struggles. I put these kids in the woods alone in the rain with just a tarp and string, I taught classes on leadership and explained how to orienteer through the woods with a compass and a map, all before dinner time each day.
My nerves quickly disappeared as I gained each child's trust and friendships. I had forgotten what it was like to be 14. All the kids had life struggles, maybe with parents or siblings or peer pressure. It was amazing to break down their guards while breaking down my own.
These 14 year olds reminded me of things that I needed to bring back into my life.
Their carefree way of life intertwined with their ability to share different experiences realized that I should bring that to my everyday life. They are hilarious and always brought laughter into everything, even when it was a stressful situation. They are fearless but recognize that they need to be cautious. They appreciated simple things, but were always willing to try new things and solve hard problems.
These 14 year olds made me realize that I am 14 too...but I'm also 15,16,17,18,19, and 20. I've learned a lot in 20 years of life, with a lot more learning and growing to do. But because of these kids I have been reminded to never forget the simple things...and always laugh and always smile.
