"How I Spent My Summer Vacation" Pt. 4

THE FINAL CHAPTER
I spent summer 2011 in the woods at a YMCA Summer Camp. Now I've spent several of my summers at camp and talked about camping several times before. But this post will be a bit different, because this summer... I was in charge.





So my official position was the Program Director. My primary responsibility was to make sure all of our summer camp programs ran smoothly. But that is a very general statement. Specifically, I was the face of camp for the campers. I was the one who on Sunday, when kids came in, stood up in front of them and ran orientation and told them the rules. I was the one who made announcements everyday, made executive decisions about weather & scheduling conflicts, and dealt with behavior issues (campers and sometimes... staff). On a weekly and daily basis, I ran Staff Meetings, scheduled a staff of 40, and organized cabin and all-camp activities.

My work actually started last November, when the Associate Exec. Director (my direct boss) and I sat down and recapped Summer 2010 and figured out what to improve upon. After a winter retreat in December with her and the Executive Director, things really kicked into gear. I started reading up on running a summer camp and planning Staff Training. Most of my spring was preparing for Staff Training, an intense week long experience where we trained the staff everything they needed to know about being a successful counselor.

One of the hardest part about being in my position was sheer amount of information that was thrown at me throughout the day. There were also times when I felt inundated with questions. But it kind of had to be that way, because I was sort of like Air Traffic Control. Another challenge? Having to tell staff when they weren't doing their jobs. This is actually extremely difficult in a work environment as social as a camp. Especially when staff are older than me. For the most part, I believe I had the respect of the staff. A few older staff members sometimes preferred not to be told what to do by a 22 year old. But I guess in a supervisor role there will always be people who don't agree with your leadership style.

I hated it at first. I didn't feel like I had a good grasp on things at the beginning. I was sort of thrown into a "You'll figure it out" type of situation. [I still remember that first week when I spent a good 5+ hours trying to schedule 40 people on 9 different types of actvities, all while trying to make sure their responsibilities matched their preferences. UG.] And I DID figure it out. But it took me a few weeks, and then the summer was almost half over. I think I did a pretty solid job (at least that's what many of the evals said), but I didn't necessarily LOVE the work, as I had in years past in different positions. Would I do it again? Maybe. If I did it again, I wouldn't have to figure out all the basics again, so it would be much easier to make my own and to have fun doing it. Overall, it was a solid summer. Hard work, but great reward. Over 600 campers came through our doors, and I can truthfully say that I did all I could to give them the best summer of their lives.

After summercamp was over, I went home and enjoyed 12 days off. I caught up on sleep (for the first time since Rotblatt!), watched movies and tv shows, VEGGED OUT, went out with friends, helped my mom unpack in her new-ish place, and just caught up on some R&R in the wonderful summertime Chi and OP.

Oh yeah, forgot to mention. The day summer camp ended, we had a fun bash in the little cottage I lived in (and still live in). Special/Notable Guests included: Ted Marschall ("National Swimmer, may god bless his soul" as none other than Chuck "Gooch" kept calling him), Tom Holmes (who was in MI visiting his grandma at the time), and Hannah "Dara Strauss-Albee's sister" Strauss-Albee (who worked at camp this past summer). Small world? CHEA. But it was an awesome evening.

But what now? Well, I 'm back up at camp working in a dual position. I am a part-time Marketing, Alumni & Development Coordinator and part-time Outdoor Education Instructor. I was originally going to be 100% M.A.D. Coordinator, but then I asked my boss for the switch up -- I didn't really like the idea of spending 40 hours a week inside yet. And if I could do something about it, why not have my cake and eat it too? So I spend more than 2/3 of my time in the office working with the Exec. Director on a Alumni Day, fundraising, and gearing up for a capital campaign and the other time out in the woods teaching kids about pioneer life in michigan, orienteering, survival, etc. So far I'm digging it, but it is a different social scene... there are only about 7 staff members here (including my bosses). They rest of us 20 somethings rely on our selves and our trips into town for fun. It's weird living where you work and in such a small setting, but the benefits are awesome: free use of facilities whenever (climbing wall, high ropes course, zipline, archery, boats, KITCHEN!, etc.) and living in the outdoors is pretty sweet too (living on a lake, bondfires, so close to Lake Michigan, good fresh food, trees and wildlife all over). Enjoying it while I can...

WHEW. Took me a while, but that was my summer! It's crazy because at least here in West Michigan, it has already turned to fall in such a short amount of time! Been rockin the sweatshirts and pants the past two weeks. I'm excited to see what fall is like in pure michigan...


MOLSON OUT.