Summer

So you might want to know what I did this summer (since I clearly didn't blog) and so now that summer is over (not in Kansas though...over 100 degrees today...good thing for A/C) I thought I would let you all know.

This summer I got the chance to do something I've never done before. I know what some of you are thinking: "didn't she work at a day camp? She does that all the time." Which is true, I did work at a day camp which is something that I have done lots of times. But it is the beginning of the camp that was something new. I worked at a special needs camp. That's right. For two weeks, a staff of 10 university students ran an over night adults special needs camp. Needless to say this was a shocking experience. I am not going to lie: I did not really want to do it. I love kids. I love getting the chance to work with kids for the summer and get paid doing it. But special need adults? This is something I had never done before, had no knowledge of, and to be honest was really worried about it. But it turns out God knows best. It was a great experience.
I realized how many stereotypes I had of adults with special needs and how wrong they were. We had between 40-50 campers both weeks. And all of them were just like us. Sure, some of them had some developmental delays, some of them lacked the social skills, some had no boundaries, and some had zero communication skills. But they are just like us. They have jobs, and they are incredibly proud of their jobs, they want to know people, they want to make friends, they have relationships, they learn, they are just like us except for one thing that in reality that had no choice about. It was amazing. I learned so much - how to communicate clearly, how to deal with certain behaviors (for example, one of my campers would bite her finger whenever she felt overwhelmed or over-stimulated. Which was basically all the time. So I had to learn how to deal with that). By the end of the two weeks I was beyond exhausted, but also felt very fulfilled. It was great to work with a new population, learn new skills, and experience something brand new.
Of course the rest of the summer was also amazing. We had between 10-20 campers a week and they ranged in age from 5-12. They kids were great. There were of course the campers who like to break the rules, the ones with annoying behaviors, and the ones who were slightly aggressive. But they were great. Over the years I have learned to deal with those things and look for the good instead of focusing on the bad. There were just so many really precious moments and it was great to get to know some more kids and learn about their lives. Kids lives seem so much different then when I was a kid. It often makes me sad to see the lack of childhood many of my campers have, but it was great to have them outside constantly and give them a chance to forget about school and their home lives (which are not always ideal). The camp was on the beach (Crescent Beach) which was great. I got to see the ocean every day. Which was especially great considering I live in the land locked state of Kansas the rest of the year.

Of course the summer ended with a three and a half day road trip with three people in my car, three travel suit cases, one big suit case, 4 packs of Shreddies (they don't exist in USA), a big box of coffee crisp (which also don't exist here), and an assortment of bags. All in my Toyota Yaris. It was a good trip - long by the end of it, but good. We did 8-9 hour days and stopped to do some tourist-y things along the way. It felt good to get out of the car and stretch our legs and see some of America we never get to see. The trip ended with a tour of Hillsboro and Tabor for my mom (who has been here once before) and my sister (who has never been here before).
And then summer was over. The very next day school started, the family went home, and homework began. And that is where I am now. While all you Canadians are just thinking about starting school tomorrow, I have already written half a dozen papers and completed my first exam. So summer is over, but not forgotten. And maybe soon I will post some pictures. But first I must eat dinner. And paint my house. And do homework...