Camps are all different. Some specialize in certain areas like horses, theatre, and outdoor survival skills. However, some specialize in helping children grow socially as well as academically, maintaining their scholarly abilities. I have enjoyed working at the YMCA Enrichment Camp because we help children keep their literacy and STEM skills as well as have a lot of fun!

I have learned so many things as a counselor over the past two weeks, it's incredible. I went into camp thinking, "Oh, this will be easy; just as easy as wrangling 12-13 girls on horses." No, I was wrong. I mean, there are easy times, but then there are challenges each day that are lessons learned and recorded into the brain.

I've learned to be flexible at all times. We never know if something is going to go wrong, so it is always smart to have a back-up plan. Always have a back-up game, craft or activity that you can whip out when the scheduled activity goes wrong.

Another thing I learned was don't set extreme expectations for your campers. Some expectations you set might be too high for them to follow, so set small expectations that will fall in a domino effect. When they do one thing you expect, the next will be even better!

Thirdly, do multiple head counts many times during the day. You don't ever want to lose a camper. I was once at the arts and crafts station and one of my campers told me another one of the campers ran to a corner. But before she told me, I was panicking that I had lost a camper (my absolute nightmare).

Fourthly, if you're popular with all the other campers, encourage them to have fun with their assigned counselor. I know this very well because the kiddos are always screaming, "Sprinkles, Sprinkles! I want to be in your group." It breaks my heart, because these kids want to be in my group when they could be bonding and having a ton of fun with their counselor. So I tell them that their counselor would miss having them and then that they will have a ton of fun with their counselor.

Overall, YMCA Camp has helped me grow in my skills within two weeks, and I am excited to see where my skills will be by the time camp ends in August. Yes, I will still be bombarded with their plea to be in my group, but I will have fun with them all and enjoy watching them have fun and discover new things.