Sun's out, guns out. Finals are over, we've all been home for a few weeks, and are adjusting back into our lives. Some will spend their #summer2k16 traveling, babysitting, taking classes or studying abroad. There is another group of us who picked to spend our summer working at a summer camp. I am one of those.
Growing up I spent a lot of my summer going from camp to camp. I'd go to one and fly to the next one because it usually started the next day. As a camper, I loved every moment of each camp I went to, whether it be Christian, academic or adventurous. I loved every minute of it all. I knew I wanted to give back.
Second semester of my freshman year, as I was sitting in my dorm room procrastinating on homework while my friends were in my room talking about their summer plans (which included attending Hangout Fest, traveling and going to the beach), they began to ask me what my plans were. I sat on my bed and asked myself the same question. I thought: should I take classes? Should I travel and visit my friends? Babysit? As I began to think more and more about it, I knew I wanted to give back and work at one of the camps I went to growing up.
After I decided that I wanted to serve at camp, I pulled the application up and without hesitation filled it out. While filling it out I thought about all the amazing memories and people that I made there and my heart began to get full of joy at the thought of another camper coming for the first time and the memories that they'd make. It made the thought of working with middle schoolers for 12 hours a day better than I thought.
After I filled it out, I questioned if it was the right thing to do during a study break. A spur of the moment thing. I questioned if I'd even get accepted (applications opened New Years Day and this was March when I applied). I knew it was all in God's hands. If it was a part of His plan for me to work and serve at a camp to introduce middle schoolers to Him, I'd be more excited than ever; if it wasn't a part of His plan, I'd accept that and apply the following year.
Two weeks later, (on my 19th birthday actually) I found out that I had been accepted to serve on Summer Staff at a new camp in Missouri that was a part of the same organization of some of the camps I went to prior. I was over the moon with excitement. I told everyone and it was the highlight of my birthday. I started to think of all the amazing people I would work with, and the campers that I would serve. Just imagining the campers coming off the bus with a smile on their face, and ready for the best week of their life made me happy.
At that moment I knew spending the majority of my summer in the middle of Missouri, serving at a brand new camp with people I didn't know (and without my phone or social media) was the way I wanted to spend the summer after my freshman year of high school.
While some of my friends were excited for me, others questioned why I wanted to do it. I simply answered, "because I was that kid who had a leader who impacted their life and came back from camp changed and I knew I had to give back."
As I sit in the summer staff lounge writing this, I've been here for a week and I know I made the right and best decision that I ever could have made.This is how I wanted to spend my summer, and it is more rewarding than being at the beach or anything else. My feet may hurt and I may have had to use the emergency eye wash because I got jalapeno juice in my eyes, but it's all worth it. These people have become my best friends in such a short period of time. We've heard each others life stories, and know more about each other than our friends from home know about us. We encourage and support each other. We're a family, and I'm so thankful for them.
And that's why I chose to work at a summer camp.
