This week, I have been participating—primarily—in training and orientation sessions that will prepare me for my time with the kids for the next eight weeks. During the training, the facilitators have been encouraging the staff to reflect on the academic year of programming as well as prior camps from the summer which has been tremendously helpful. To me, though, everything is still quite abstract. We speak of hypothetical campers in terms of hypothetical scenarios.

When I think of these situations, I find myself trying to conceptualize the posed scenario through the lens of kids I know—a familiar frame to make sense of the information. I am a part-time sitter when I’m not at HFF so I am often exposed to kiddos of various ages and demographics. However, out of all my years of being a camp counselor and working with children, I haven’t consistently been exposed to kids from the hub of the city. I didn’t grow up in this space either, so I know that I can’t truly understand the kids’ lived experiences. Thankfully, the expertise of the faculty makes up for my current, perhaps, clumsy skills.

In fact, my favorite part of week two has been finally getting to meet the other staff at the Center, whether it be the teachers who will inhabit the classrooms, the administrators who are in charge of planning and facilitation, or my fellow kitchen staff.  There exists a harmony of personalities that contributes to a rapport among returning crew; their dynamic excites me as I imagine the kids thrown into the mix. I can tell that they are full of love for the campers which, in my opinion, trumps any other factors relevant to the success of the program.

During the training, the training facilitators have been encouraging the staff to reflect on the academic year of programming as well as prior camps from the summer which has been tremendously helpful. To me, though, everything is still quite abstract. We speak of hypothetical campers in terms of hypothetical scenarios.

In an effort to understand the program and the backgrounds of the kids who are participating, I’ve been asking many questions and verbally organizing information. I’ve noticed that this may come off as a bit overzealous compared to the other staff participating in the trainings. (I’m a naturally zealous person, but they don’t know that about me yet.) I can’t help but voice my curiosities: What will my days look like? How many kids per class? When does camp end? What will be the extent of my exposure to kids since my tasks exist first and foremost in the cafeteria? Where do I park? Among all the questions, I am silently wondering, where do I fit in here in order to create the most meaningful impact?

In my interaction with both the campers and the staff, I’m trying to learn and navigate effective ways for me to express myself authentically in this space. I have been thinking this week about the balance between ‘being myself’ and expressing my thoughts while learning and listening to those who have the expertise and lived experiences necessary to understand the kids more aptly.

Even though I may not be able to immediately relate to some of the staff or kids attending summer program, I am reminded by a mentor that everyone—both children and adults—want to be seen, heard, valued, and loved. As long as I work towards building good relationships and respecting the differences and similarities among the big Dowd family, I just know it’s all going to work out.

COUNTDOWN TO CAMP: 3 DAYS!