So the update about camp and all things summer. Camp started wonderfully. I had a two co counselors that were a great help and we were all greatly involved with the girls' camp experience. The play was a blast and the counselors all got along and my girls were sweethearts (i still write back and forth with one). Then second session rolled around. I got the youngest girls at camp. four weeks of eight girls between the ages of 5 and 8 or 9. The were the rich girls that acted that way. They were selfish and demanding and had competitions about anything and everything (down to who could cry the most, sleep the least and who had the worst home life among other things). The my co conselor stopped working early on in the session leaving these difficult eight to me and the CIT (counselor in training, i.e. 17 year old) to deal with. By the end of the first week with this group I was so exhausted I could not control my emotions at all. I couldn't go on leave on time because I was helping one of my girls so all the other counselors left (I told them to go ahead) and I was stranded at camp when I finally got leave. The sheriff then saw me walking to the lodge we slept at on our off nights and reported a 15 year old runaway camper. I finally got to the lodge and passed out for an hour when the camp director came in with her daughter and I just started crying for no apparent reason other than exhaustion. I then proceeded to cry to her for over an hour then called my mom and cried to her for 45 mnutes then went to bed. Needless to say I was glad to see second session go. I did adore one of my girls and felt bad that she had to be with so difficult of a cabin, but I was thankful to have her and told her parents how truely wonderful she was. Administration thought I handled that cabin horribly and I heard it all the tme that it was wrong of me (though the entire line did this, not just me and my cabin) to tell the girls that there weren't milk and cookies some nights when they had already had three desserts during the day. They also had a problem with the fact that I wouldnt let one of my girls go to the nurse first thing in the morning,but if I did she'd get sick because she would take her meds before eating and she needed to have food in her stomach for them. They even said I yelled at my girls to frequently and that they were afraid of me (and yet they'd seek me out to hang out and come to when they had problems). Third session started off as badly as second session ended. I was still hearing about the second session cabin and was even accused of putting a bible in a jewish girl's trunk in the attempt to convert her. Tell me, why would a comparative religions major do that? I told them I was getting sick of hearing them take a 6 year olds word over multiple counselors (not in so may words). Then I got my third session girls and a new co counselor (the other one went home at the end of second session). I was now with 11 year olds that were amazing. They were absolute sweethearts and I couldn't have asked for a better group to end my summer with. My co was amazing and rediculous in all the best ways. I had a prank war with another counselor that resulted in my bed being put in the rafters of my cabin, her bed being saran wrapped, my undergarments ending up outside of the cabin, her bed being switched with one of her campers, my bed being toilet papered, her place setting in the dining hall being set outside her cabin and the one I am most proud of, I set up her entire part of the cabn (other than shelves) on the roof of the bathroom. Camp was a learning experience. I don't know how much I'd want to go back, but I did make some great friendships out of it and I have learned a ton. There is way more than what I have put here and maybe I'll add more another day, but these are the main points. Directing the play was a wonderful experience and I am so thankful for it. I spent a summer in the North Carolina Mountains and I came away with a greater appreciation for the flat lands of the midwest, the camps I went to, and the thankless jobs people do and get yelled at for and especially the friendships formed through all of that. | 
