During the second half of my summer, I was lucky enough to be a counselor for the pathway to your future/ molecules to medicine camps at Wabash. Both camps are for high schoolers, and it allowed them to get further information about certain career paths. The pathway to your future camp had a focus on careers in sports and the molecules to medicine camp had a focus on careers in medicine.
At the start of these four weeks. I got trained in ways to understand teenager behavior and learned more about emotional intelligence with a training session from Emily Dills. Big thanks to her because that training helped me understand more about certain behaviors teenagers have and how to handle them in specific camp like situations.
During these camps I took on many roles. I worked with 3 other counselors, and we served as mostly as RAs and mentors for the campers. I learned that communication is a very important part of making sure a camp day runs smoothly. Each day the staff communicated about the daily activities and times each even took place. This strong communication made sure that events like day trips to visit Eli Lilly in Indianapolis ran smoothly and we got there on time prepared.
More focusing on the “fun” side of camp, I learned that counselors must think on their feet. During free time us counselors had to find activities that the campers would enjoy, whether it was playing basketball or just playing some cards, we found ways to lead our campers to have fun. This time also allowed the campers to create stronger connections with each other, which I believe is another important part of the camps because once a kid gets comfortable in an environment, they have a more enjoyable time.
Big thanks to Tyler Wade, Sulle Buba, and Halle Vincent for allowing me to be part of this great team and experience. I was incredibly grateful to be a part of such a caring and hardworking team. I will take many things that I have learned this summer and use them in future careers.
