This internship has been unexpectedly physically demanding! I spent Tuesday sweating outside making t-shirts for camp with fellow camp counselors and Wednesday I noticed a trickle of red on my finger- blood from a paper cut. So, I can now say I have bled and sweat for this job!! I do not want this to be taken as complaining though, I actually enjoy constantly being on the go and doing different things besides sitting at a desk all day.
At Tuesday’s training session I finished up interviewing our teen leaders and counselors in training. An interview is required in order to be a counselor at camp. And if you are confused about the difference between teen leader and counselor in training, I was right there with you! But they are just technical terms for the differing levels of age and responsibility in those looking after the campers. Each cabin will have one/two adult leaders, a couple teen leaders, and one/two counselors in training. It was interesting to interview the teens; getting insight on their motives for attending camp, how well they know their strengths and weaknesses, and just their personalities in general. It was my first time interviewing anyone and for some it was their first interview. I stressed to them the importance of the interview experience, because many of the questions I asked them were similar to, if not the same as, questions that have been asked of me in job interviews.
I spent Wednesday preparing for camp. It is going to be 5 days of relay games, dancing, singing, and other fun activities. Each person will receive a folder containing the camp schedule. We will all have name tags as well. I put together all of our schedule folders and decorated each name tag with superhero stickers, to go along with the camp theme. I also gathered materials for and practiced the acid rain activity I have put together.
Thank goodness I practiced!!!! There are so many little details that go into making an effective presentation and lesson. The plan is to give each camper a piece of chalk and observe the effects of water versus vinegar on the chalk, this will demonstrate the effects of acid rain over time on buildings and statues. How much chalk should each kid get? How many pieces do I need? How many cups do I need? Should one be used with the vinegar? A different one for water? Will they have to share droppers? Luckily we had everything in the office needed except there was not enough vinegar for camp, but there was enough to practice with. A run to the store and we will have plenty of vinegar.
When I first tried pouring vinegar on the chalk. NOTHING. happened. Dang it! What do I do now? Well, after looking up other acidic liquids to try and coming up with other options I tried the vinegar again. This time letting the chalk sit in the bowl. Finally, I hear fizzing. Phew! It will work out after all. It just goes to show that you always need a backup plan just in case your original plan doesn’t work out. Reminds me of the research I did in college. When an experiment doesn’t yield results you must come up with ways to solve the problem, which many times involves tweaking your original idea.
Can’t wait to work with the kids at camp!
My Big Rock Candy Mountain 