I'm a Kid at Heart

Last week I had the opportunity to go back to Camp Bob as a volunteer. Because this place is so special to me, I was super excited to go hang out for the week, see old friends, and play with some great kids.

I got there a couple of days before the week's campers arrived and spent some time in town and running trails :) However, due to lots of unexpected circumstances (camp is all about being flexible, right?) I ended up being offered a counselor position for the week. I immediately accepted and then began my week looking over 15 eleven and twelve year old girls.

I had definitely forgotten about the demands of trying to keep children from stupidity and death, and the week was full of teenage drama, sickness, and tears. However, mixed in with all that, was lots of fun, smiles, and hugs. I'm hoping that my girls got as much out of that week as I did. I think that having a job that allows me to swim, hike, sing lots of crazy songs until I lose my voice, etc. is just about perfect! I know I must enjoy camp just as much (if not more) than the campers.

The week was also a great reminder, after a year without really working with kids, of why I want to be a teacher. Last summer I had an administrative position in the camp and was mainly doing behind-the-scenes work and discipline. While it was a great experience and I grew and learned a lot, I was reminded by this week as a counselor how much I get out of more direct interaction with the campers. I can't help but make the transfer to education and my (hopefully) future career as a teacher. Maybe eventually I'll want to look into other areas, possibly even school administration...but for now I'm excited about being in the thick of things as a classroom teacher, taking both the ups and the downs, and being a "kid" for as long as I can!

An update about...

So, I've neglected this blog because 1. I'm no longer in Mexico and 2. Life just doesn't seem as eventful. Then, while this blog might not be too interesting, at least I'm making the effort, right?

I've pretty much been in Burlington since I got back in June, and I'd better start getting used to it because I'm going to be commuting half an hour to UNCG and back every day starting in the fall. This is going to be a completely different sort of experience for me (I mean, talk about the two extremes: living in a foreign country...and living at home), but I'm working on having a good attitude about it.

I'm keeping up with my running (mostly consistently) somewhat for the simple fact that there's not too much else to do right now. I ran a race in Greensboro at the end of June and did a lot better than I had expected. Now I need to bring up to speed my swimming and biking...triathlons, here I come :) :)

One nice thing about being home (and being on vacation) is having a wonderful, relaxed morning routine. A 4-5 mile run, a cup of coffee with soy milk, the newspaper or a book (the local library is probably one of my most frequent current hang-outs)...perfect!!

While a couple more things have been happening, I'll save them for future (and hopefully more entertaining) posts!