What I Learned as Summer Staff (Part 2)

Tales of a second year.

Just as the Texas heat really starts to show it’s face you roll back on to camp. You move in, hug your friends you haven’t seen since last summer, introduce yourself and hug the new ones you’ll make this summer and buckle up for the ride. Summer at Camp Zephyr is one of the hardest and yet awesome things I’ve had the privilege to be a part of.

This was my second year as a Summer Staffer. After your first summer, you are considered a senior staffer. This means you have more privilege and you also get more responsibilities.

Summer two was very different from my first summer working at Camp Zephyr. My Summer this year was better in a lot of ways. One I did not have the emotional drama I had to deal with like last year. Two I understood how systems on camp work and wasn’t having to learn everything from scratch and so I had a lot more confidence in myself.

Over the summer I was able to show leadership skills in a number of ways. One way was by teaching the first-year staff said systems. How we clean everything from top to bottom for example and why.

Another was being on the Team Rec again this summer and leading a game and devotional almost every morning over the summer. I loved getting the groups excited before we’d run out the back doors of the tabernacle with a group of 40 students all running behind you with their flag while yelling their war cries and heading towards my game. My favorite part of rec was being able to share a devotional at the end of the day and then pray before we’d dismiss them for lunch.

But I saved what I think was probably my favorite leadership position for last. I had the privilege to do was being a maniac during our first two sessions of kids camp. What is a maniac you might ask? Well, let me tell you! They are the most excited, crazy load and fun team mascots ever! If I do say so myself. Our job is to get kids excited for worship or to play games. We shepherd the kids from place to place during the afternoon making sure the group stayed on time and of course race them down any slide or inflatable you get challenged to. We also lead the kids in dance motions during worship. I absolutely loved every minute of it and not just because I got to wear a red tutu, and cat ears! The kids were all so sweet and adorable. But I think my favorite part was when the worship band was playing on the last day and you could just hear all the little voices singing and praising God. My background is in leading worship and a very large part of my heart is for specifically that. By the end of kids camp, I was pooped but it was totally worth every second of it.

One thing I try really hard to always do is be a positive and encouraging influence on the people around me. I’m not always capable of it and I don’t think any human is but I am the majority of the time. This summer we had a guy who competed on the show American Ninja Warrior come out and put up a ninja course for us. My friend Audrey one of the first years this summer was having trouble doing the spider crawl part of the course. So, I took a bit of time showed her how I did it and gave her some tips. Then I encouraged her to not give up until she finished the challenge. I knew she could do it! It took a few tries and it wasn’t easy, but she did it! Then she did it again! She was so happy and excited and proud of herself! I was so proud of her too! That is what the entire course was about overcoming obstacles. All it took was a little encouragement and some determination.

There are so many things I’ve learned from my experiences at camp adaptability. Like when it was raining, and we had to move one of our student camp events to the indoor gym. I learned conflict resolution, with my roommates when I had a problem I’d go straight to my roommate and vise versa because when you work so closely with people unless you take care of the problem immediately little things can build or escalate and that is the last thing anyone needs. So, before the problem ever became conflict we’d talk it out.

Zephyr is one of the most beautiful and amazing places. It still tops my list of favorite places in the world. I don’t think I have enough words to describe it. I’ve made so many friends I might never have even talked to had I not worked there. I’ve learned so much and I know the impact we as a team and a staff have on the camper’s lives because this camp changed my life and no one on staff even knew, but the people around me and in my life saw the difference. I wouldn’t trade any of it for the world!