this week is... (drum roll please) CAMP SUNSHINE!!!!! teen week. in the words of two boys I had at songwriting, 'this right here is my camp'.
so at teen week, the campers are all 13-18 year olds who have or had cancer. It's a good mix of those who are still on treatment, just declared cancer free, and those who had been off for ten years! this camp definitely has the biggest span of ability levels. there are kids who have fake legs, in wheel chairs, no hair, and those able to run and jump. it is definitely a wide variety. my cabin this week is a cabin of 16-year-old girls. i just love them. some of them have been together since they started camp, some are new to the cabin but not camp, and one girl is brand new to sunshine. of course both the counselors in that cabin are awesome, too!
this week i am not only on arts and music, but also outdoor adventure! let me tell you that belaying is just like riding a bike. you never forget how once that rope is in your hands again! today especially has been an OA day for me. I had an awesome climbing session where everyone climbed at least once, and two boys made it to the top of the agro crag! The agro crag has a side of the wall that juts out at an angle. pretty awesome. i decided that we need to make CTL shirts that say 'I climbed the agro crag' and sell them at the end of camp. because that it QUITE an accomplishment. I have only done the flat side of the agro crag (still hard!!)
in addition to climbing, I had Group Initiatives with the senior girls cabin. It was probably one of the best GI sessions ever. They took everything I threw at them, handled it beautifully, and then requested to do the trust fall! not all GI sessions go so smoothly. All of the activities in the woods require everyone to really work together as a team to accomplish the goal.
yesterday was equally awesome, but my best session was definitely songwriting. the radio broke (probably the best way to put it) last week so we didn't have any equipment to record so the activity yesterday turned into songwriting! no worries it works again! but anyways, I had two 16-year-olds from the same cabin come in and write a rap together about camp. what really made it the best session is not that their rap was so good. it was that one of the boys was brand new to camp. he and the other guy just met the day before, AND they were so proud of their rap that they requested to perform it in the dining hall in front of everyone! it was all about how much they love camp, the friends they make, etc. Them performing it was one of those moments where you tear up because it's just so awesome that they're doing it and because of the looks on their faces. those 2 boys are definitely ones that i will remember for a LONG time.
the great thing about camp twin lakes is that every week is different. last summer their slogan was 'the best week of your life'. Well we try to make it that for every kid who comes in: the best week of your life, no matter how long your life is. some of these kids won't be back next summer, and some of them are about to head back into the hospital for more treatment, so that's why this is so important. for a week all these kids and teens just get to be themselves and not worry about their illness or disability because everyone else here has it, too! that's why i got my camp sunshine tat. because it reminds me of the best weeks of my life!!
No comments:
Post a Comment