April 6, 2018 at 1:53 p.m.
TEEN PERSPECTIVE
Camp counseling made me ready for semester abroad
Camp counseling made me ready for semester abroad
I've been a counselor at a scout camp for the past two summers. I have adapted to situations from breaking up squabbles to finding games the campers can play in cramped tents while a storm rages overhead.
Now, I find myself in a new, more formidable situation: preparing to spend a semester abroad in Austria. More than half the student body of my college -- the Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio -- participates in that grand European adventure, and this fall is my opportunity.
I keep comparing myself to the campers I've encountered.
Many new adventures await the children at camp. All of the girls, who are around seven years old, react to challenges in different ways. One girl jumps fearlessly from the floating dock in the deepest swim section, while another hesitantly wades by the beach in hopes of avoiding fish.
As a counselor, it's been my job to take everyone's personalities into account and make sure everyone has fun; I teach the girls new skills while encouraging them to reach beyond their comfort zones.
As I take a break from shoving as many pairs of pants into my suitcase as possible, I realize that I'll soon be like my campers: in an environment away from home, facing new experiences. Many fun adventures await me, but I must be my own counselor.
While I'm abroad, I want to be open to exciting situations such as climbing the Austrian Alps or exploring the streets of Vienna, while being mindful of safety - something the girl jumping from the floating dock might forget. However, I could become too concerned with safety and miss out on amazing opportunities. I need to find a happy medium.
Often, the girls in my group arrive at camp as total strangers and leave with promises to return the next year. Still, the process can be like pulling teeth. Many girls introduce themselves and become fast friends, but this can lead to cliques -- complete with outcasts. Almost every week, I've had to incorporate a shunned girl into the group so she's able to enjoy her time at camp.
Alone on a foreign continent next semester, I will face the task of making friends. That sudden thought made me burrow my face into the shirts I had just managed to roll up and fit into my luggage.
Working to help others, especially children, is much easier than getting past my shyness around people my own age. Making new friends has always been difficult. But I know from classmates who have traveled that friendships forged in Austria tend to last, so a few moments of awkwardness will hopefully be worth the risk.
Every year, new campers face "the overnight" -- the one time they sleep over at the day camp. Counselors corral groups of girls into a cabin or tent while feeling resigned to the fact that at least three campers will ask to go to the bathroom and one of the younger girls will have an emotional breakdown.
This is usually the most daunting new experience for my young campers. Girls can react in any way from ecstatic to hysterical -- and that's not exclusive to the first-timers. During the camp's first session, I had one girl who was a model camper at the overnight -- helpful, amiable and fantastic at following directions. In a later session, the same girl was inconsolable.
I may experience that myself in Europe. I know I'll miss my family, friends and the privacy of my bedroom. However, if my support system of friends is as strong as the support I give my campers, I know I can overcome it.
At camp, no matter how much a girl pleads, I'm not allowed to contact her parents except in extreme circumstances. In Europe, contacting my parents will be nearly impossible, since I'll be in a building without Wi-Fi, and international texting and calling is ridiculously expensive. However, like my girls, I will get through each long night until I return home.
Just as I've watched campers grow over the course of a week, I wonder how much I'll mature during my four months abroad. Despite any fear, I can't wait for the opportunity to travel to Europe. My girls leave camp with great memories, and I will leave Austria with my own happy record of my time abroad -- if I can manage to squeeze my camera somewhere into my suitcase.
(Lauren is a rising junior in college, a parishioner of St. Ambrose Church in Latham and an alumnus of St. Thomas the Apostle School in Delmar.)[[In-content Ad]]
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