The challenges that scare you will come to be your most cherished. #14

 Last summer I applied to a camp in the middle of Maine. Full of people I have never met, living in a bunk with 25 other people, sharing 2 shows and 3 toilets. For those who have never done this before it comes with its challenges. As counselors when you get to the camp you spend two weeks getting to know the other counselors, and completing training so that you are prepared for anything and everything when the kids come. A couple days before the kids come to camp you receive your bunk placement and find out what age group you will be working with. I was hoping for a group of 12s. I got 11s. I was very excited at first, until I found out that in the past summer they had been called the terrible 10s. Each age group has 3 bunks and this group was the worst of the worst apparently. Infamously known for making their counselors hate their life and job and often end up leaving. Flushing airpods down toilets, killing baby ducks, locking you out of the bunk, and so much more. I had one of the other counselors come up and ask me if I knew how to pray, because I would need to. I went from being very excited to being very scared for my kids to get there. But when they did I decided to approach the situation with a fresh mind and let them make their own impressions on me. Those first couple nights were hard, but as time went on I began to bond with them. I got closer to them and got to know what they like, how to tell when they were feeling homesick, how to help them when they didn't feel good. I started to feel very protective over them. Now as I am approaching the end of the year and summer is coming I find myself counting down the days til I get to see my kids again. Hear about their year, everything that has happened, play cards with them again, and give them a big old hug.

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