I have now completed two full weeks of camp, being an intern in the office, a volunteer coordinator and a volunteer at therapeutic riding lessons. This summer is going great!!!
Camp has been the best out of the seven summers I have worked it. This year my friend, Sam, and I are head counselors which has brought us lots of responsibility. While this is great it also brings many challenges. We are in charge of the safety and happiness of ten campers a week, with and without special needs and just as many counselors. This means that sometimes we have to step up and enforce rules and play the "bad guy" card. I think this is the hardest part about camp because most of the counselors are only a few years younger than us and some are older. I know that Sam and I are doing the best we can and the instructor even commented the other day that this has been the best year of camp she has taught in her ten years of summer camp.
As an intern I have been doing a lot of data entry, filing, color coding folders and alphabetizing for the Program Director. This doesn't sound like a lot of fun but it really is fulfilling for me. I know that by doing this I am helping the program to expand so we can serve even more people. Currently we are trying to get a grant to purchase more land and all of my work will help towards that grant. It amazes me how much the program has changed since I started eight years ago and it has been changing even faster the last two years. I am so excited to have a part in that no matter how small it may be :)
Another hat that I am wearing this summer is that of a volunteer coordinator. This means that during therapeutic lessons I match up volunteers with horses and kids. It has been quite a challenging job because I have had ample volunteers show up each week!!! The negative part of this is trying to make sure everyone has a job to do and feels like their time is being rewarded. I love this challenge. It's like trying to figure out a puzzle or solve a Sudoku puzzle. All the volunteers have been so kind to me, especially the first week when I was figuring out what to do. I am so lucky to get to work with the instructor, Beth, that I have been volunteering with weekly for years. She has really helped me and been there when I have questions about what to do.
The last hat I get to wear is my favorite, a volunteer during therapeutic riding lessons. I love getting to work with the riders and see how much many of them have progressed in the year I was gone. It is great to see them and their families again and I have definitely been welcomed back with open arms.
One of my biggest goals for the summer is to simply watch how lessons are structured and all the great techniques the instructors use. I want to be able to take this back to my service site to help them become even better. Knowing all the instructors for so long I have learned many of their techniques throughout the years, but this summer I have really been observing, learning and implementing them. It is great practice for me for my future career as an ESE teacher.Many of the techniques that I have learned from watching the instructors teach throughout the years will be able to be used in my classroom someday.
I am really happy and pleased with how well my Summer of Service is going. I have learned so much and have grown as a person.
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