Day of Rest

Being a Camp Director is great... exhausting... but great. Here's the thing I don't think any of the staff seem to understand. While they are with kids constantly, sleeping in the same cabin and in activities all day, they also get breaks. They get an hour in the morning, an hour in the afternoon and one night per week off. They are also free from Saturday afternoon until Monday morning at 9am. They can do ANYTHING they want during these times. They can nap, leave camp, watch tv in the staff lounge... anything. I try VERY hard not to disturb their break times and rarely do. While I am not with kids 24 hours per day, I do not get breaks... ever. Not during the day, in the evenings, or on the weekend. Even in the middle of the night when I'm in bed sleeping, I am fair game to wake up when they have a homesick camper, the water heater breaks, the weather is bad...

Today, campers left at 12, we were done cleaning at 2pm. I have been busy ever since. Day of rest my ass. The hot water went out yesterday, which I learned at 11pm when two staff came into my room and woke me up 10 minutes after I'd gone to sleep. Then the ovens in the kitchen (same building that lost hot water) stopped working, and then the kitchen filled with a strong odor of gas... I was pretty sure the building was going to explode. Luckily, it was just that we ran out of propane, and so I was given the opportunity to learn how a LOT of important machinery and stuff at camp works. It took SEVERAL hours, but I am now well versed in pilot lights, propane tanks, and water heaters.

We also have LITs here this weekend, which is great for them, but means that I have been counselor/mediator/mentor/whatever else all day. There has been drama and crying all of the typical "I'm 15 and emotional" stuff, and I'm in the middle of all of it, working hard to resolve issues and make sure everyone is happy and cared for.

This is the most intense job I have ever had and I am blown away by the level of responsibility and enormous expectations placed on me. It is an honor to be here and have ownership over all of this, but it is overwhelming sometimes too.