week one down!

So this week at camp I had the best time! Going into this week I was so nervous and so worried. I wasn't worried about being able to do my job and take care of the campers, but I was worried that I wasn't going to make friends from within the staff and that nobody would like me. I was SOOOO wrong! I had a blast with all of the staff and I fell completely head over heels for all of my campers! This week was Prader-Willi Syndrome Week. It was a very successful week with so much fun wrapped into it. There were moments when I wondered what in the world I was doing, and there were a few moments where I seriously was trying to figure out why I was about to devote my whole summer to this job....but then a camper would smile at me and I would remember so very quickly why I was doing what I was doing. It was for that hope that I saw in that single smile.

This week was an emotionally and physically draining week for me. After the week was over I had 2 days of Tower training. I was dead set that I was NOT going to climb the tower. However, after some encouragement from some fellow staff members I decided to try it. I made it to the first platform which was high enough for me!! The hardest part wasn't climbing up the tower though, it was trusting the ropes and my fellow staff members to lower me down. I was TERRIFIED! I had a hundred things running through my head and I was ready to set up camp up there and just stay there...but then I got to thinking about some stuff. First of all, this is probably how many of our campers feel just when we are getting ready to lift them out of their wheelchairs for the first time, or the first time we are helping them into the paddle boats, or the first time that they jump to us in the pool. They put their faith in us, so I needed to do the same. So with huge tears in my eyes, I counted to three and pushed myself off the platform. My heart was in my throat and I was hanging in the air....and was slowly lowered down to the ground. I was safe. And now I am so happy that I did it.

I know that camp will be full of these "a ha!" moments, and I can't wait to experience it all! Here are a few pictures from the week :)