Through thick and thin: working with kids

This summer, I worked as an "outdoor educator" at Sanborn Western Camps in Florissant, Colorado. Although this title may arouse curiosity, it is simply a more distinguished description of the job also known as 'camp counselor.' However, as the summer progressed, and I led and lived with my campers on a daily basis, we developed close bonds of friendship based largely on our surroundings, the wild of rural Colorado. Even though this camp was not religious, or even religiously affiliated, the spirituality of our surroundings affected us in whatever we did.

One of the integral parts of leading and connecting to the children who become campers for the summer is the living situation involved. As a counselor, I was assigned to live in a yurt, a large circular tent able to hold bed frames and mattresses for eight campers and a co-counselor. Over the four-week session, my 10-year old campers played, slept, and ate together, as well as backpacking, horseback riding, and mountaineering. Over the entire time, I was there with them in a leadership position, and, as time passed, as a friend as well.

During the session, we shared many adventures, and experienced a variety of highs and lows. About five days after the campers arrived, my co-counselor and I took them on their first overnight trip, about a four-mile hike from central camp. We took along all necessary equipment, including tents, sleeping bags, stoves, food, and warm clothes for the night. As each camper was continuing to adjust to camp life, their fellow campers and us, we were somewhat quiet on the hike to our campsite. Once there, we set up camp and spent the afternoon playing and continuing to get to know one another. After dinner, we gathered around the fire and shared funny stories, ghost stories, and jokes until we were too tired to stay up any longer. The next day, on the hike back to camp, I was pleased to hear a continuous stream of conversation among us, and realized what a thorough bonding we had just been through.

This is obviously one of my favorite memories, but these great times were also offset by more unfavorable ones. About midway through the summer, the entire camp (totaling about 90 people) was struck by an outbreak of rampant sickness. This flu virus spread rapidly, as we were all in continuous close contact with one another. About three days after its outbreak, only one of the campers in my yurt had gotten sick, and he had already recovered. However, upon awakening in the middle of the night, I discovered that five more campers had, almost simultaneously, gotten sick on the floor of the yurt. As we rose and began the cleanup and care giving process, my co-counselor also became sick, and I spent the rest on the night trying to make them feel better, and trying to keep our yurt clean and sterile. I do not think any of the ten of us got more than three hours of sleep, but we pulled through, and within the week experienced one of the highest points of the summer.

This occurred on our three-day trip to the Las Platas mountain range, during which we backpacked and camped. On the second day, we made an attempt at the summit of Mt. Huron, a 14,000-foot peak in the area. As Colorado is notorious for its afternoon lightning storms, we awoke at 2:30am to begin our ascent, assuring that we would be off of the peak by noon at the latest. It was pitch dark, and we began the hike with headlamps on and a short range of visibility. As we continued upwards, it got lighter as dawn approached, and we were able to turn off our lights. However, the sun had not risen, and we were nearing the top of the mountain. Just as we approached the summit, we turned around, and the sun rose above the distant mountains, a spectacular and majestic sight. We rejoiced in our successful summit, and in our great timing. There is no other feeling like watching a sunrise from the top of the world.

As we made our way down, there was a sense of glowing friendship among the group, and it seemed to continue with us over the next few days. Our summer was amazing, and I value all of the times I experienced, whether good or bad. A combination of the common awe of nature and the outdoors with a friendship and trust of companions created a bond and set of memories I will never forget.