Here Comes the Summer

After almost a month of preparing, the summer is finally here. Yesterday I drove to the airport to pick up two staff and two others drove to camp. Today, four more arrived in the morning, and I spent the afternoon teaching first aid. Tomorrow is a full day of CPR training and two more staff will also arrive. And finally on Friday, the last few staff will arrive and training will officially begin.

I interviewed the majority of the staff over the phone, so it has been exciting to finally meet them in person. So far, it's hard to tell. They are just getting to know each other and camp, and they all seem a little nervous and unsure. I would prefer to start training immediately, and not do first aid and CPR because the first few activities we do in training are ice breakers, which help them get to know each other and relax. It's difficult to arrive to a new place with new people and jump right into a long training about first aid. They are not comfortable with each other yet and it's an awkward way to start. Also, for the people who are currently certified and not going through these first two days, I worry that they feel like they are late and have missed something because the rest of the people have had a few days to get to know each other. By Friday afternoon, they should all be more relaxed and I will have a better idea about their personalities.

Having them here gives me mixed feelings. I am glad they are finally here and camp is coming soon. This is what I spend my entire year planning and preparing for, so it's super exciting to finally begin. But being here with just the lead staff, making our own schedule (busy as it might have been, it was nice to be able to do whatever, whenever you want), cooking together, working together and spending all of our free time relaxing together was really nice. We were a little family and I enjoyed it immensely. It was laid back and easy and I didn't have to worry about them at all. With 15 new, very young staff, responsibility begins now. Counselors sometimes have interesting ideas about what is appropriate, fun and what are good or poor choices. And so I will worry and have to keep my eyes and ears open every second of every day from now until they leave in late August. It is exhausting, so while I'm glad the summer has begun, it's not the same excitement as when I was a young staff, meeting new best friends for the summer.