|
Heeeey! How are ya?
I’m Jim, and I feel honored that you’ve clicked on my name to find out a little more about me. Well, for those of you who don’t know, this will be my 2nd summer at this magical place. For those of you who can’t remember me (tut tut), I was the English counselor in Cedar 5 – the one who couldn’t do an American accent at all (please, I must learn this year!). I am reminded daily, from all the photos I’ve taken, the new friends I’ve gained, and the memories I have, of the incredible summer last year. I am so very excited to have the opportunity to join in on the adventures again!
I will miss each and every one of the staff and campers who will not be returning, but with this, I am eager to meet the new people joining our community for the first time. I look forward to learning from you all and hope you enjoy this special place as much as I have done.
Actually, I have already been joining in on the adventures a teeny, tiny bit. Since January, I have been living at Camp working hard to ensure this summer is even more spectacular than the last. I had never imagined just how much work is done to organize the summer ahead – I assumed Randy went on vacation for 9 months of the year! Anyway, I have been learning all about sawing, hammering, nailing and twisting recently as I have built our very own chicken coop and a Chinese tea pagoda. By summer, we may get around half our eggs for camp from our chickens, and we’ll also be able to enjoy a nice cup of herbal tea overlooking the creek. Wowsers – why don’t we combine the two and have ‘tea drinking, egg eating’ clinics! I’ll see what I can do. Also, I have been busy organizing the CIRCLE program (more on that later), and a whole range of other shenanigans. Did I mention I bought myself a didgeridoo? It’s soo difficult, so if any of you know how to make animal noises through a tube, I would love the assistance.
Right – the CIRCLE program. Last year I was inspired by our Counselor in Training scheme. The three weeks of hard work, fun and enormous growth, combined with the coaching from Chad and Meg seemed like a great opportunity in which to get involved. This year the program has changed slightly, as we know the program offers much more that simply allowing the transition from camper to counselor. The seven campers on the scheme have been working incredibly hard on the pre-camp material and I am tremendously excited and honoured to spend three weeks with them this summer. I am delighted that Looby will be my co-counselor in this.
What else should I tell you… oh yes, I know. When camp finished last summer, I worked for 3 months as a teaching assistant back in England. I was amazed at my tools I had learned at Camp which prepared me for being in a classroom. While I love working with children, I couldn’t help but look out the window and want to take the pupils for a hike or an adventure outside the classroom. With these sorts of revelations, I am slowly beginning to uncover what I would love to do as a career. I want to combine my enthusiasm of children, with my love of the outdoors and adventures, perhaps through leading educational/experiential trips. Anyway, during May I will be helping out in two 8-day rafting trips with Waldorf schools and in September I am running the Tahoe marathon (I want to improve upon my best time of 4 hours and 1 minute). Perhaps in Oct I will head to Oz (Australia) to learn more about this work and gain some further experience. We’ll see!
Anyway, until I see you all over the summer, enjoy the remaining few months and I can not wait to throw you in the lake or smear you with oatmeal again soon!
Finally, a little quiz… below are the lyrics to some of my favourite songs. A point for the song, a point for the singer, and a bonus if you can name the album.
1 – “With each gift that you share You may heal and repair, With each choice that you make You may help someone's day”
2 – “Look at all those fancy clothes But these could keep us warm just like those”
3 – “There ain't no reasons things are this way Its how they've always been and they intend to stay”
|
