#camp foster

Drum Battle: III MEF Band vs. Republic of Korea (ROK) Army Band

Taps Talk 2013

So.  You want to be a counselor this summer?  You want to have fun, get a tan, try some new things, meet some new people, and make a little money?  Maybe learn some lessons along the way and find the place where you fit in?

I'm going to tell you something right now and I'm not trying to scare you but you truly have no idea what you just got yourself into by coming past that yellow sign.  Sure at the start of the summer you probably got some new chacos or bro tanks.  But when you came to camp for ropes training or lifeguard training or today for staff training you gained so much more.  You gained a home.  You gained a family.  And you gained a summer that I promise you will never forget.

For those of you who don't know me very well, you hopefully will by the end of the summer.  This is my third summer on staff here.  I had never been to camp before and I came into my first summer on staff knowing one person out of almost 70.  I was scared and nervous.  So I've been in your shoes.  I know how you feel right now.  And I'm going to tell you a secret: it's going to be okay.  It all works out.  I'm a worrier and I turned out fine.  Some advice I received from a coach has stuck with me since high school and I'll share it with you:  Maybe the best thing to do is to stop worrying about where you're going and enjoy where you're at.

And, for the next nine and a half weeks you are now in one of the most magical places that I know.  And you are probably going to do things you never thought you would do and learn things about yourself that you never even knew.  We don't do it for the tans or the money.  We do it for the great memories, the lifelong friendships, and mostly we do it for our campers.

A superhero isn't always someone who wears a cape.  They may not wear a cape or a fancy logo on their chest but there are superheroes all around.  All you have to do is look.  Somehow we've come to believe that greatness is only for the chosen few, for the superstars.  The truth is, greatness is for us all.  This is not about lowering expectations; it's about raising them for every last one of us.  Greatness is not in one special place and it's not in one special person.  Greatness is wherever someone is trying to find it.  And it is in all of you.  As counselors, you are going to get that chance to be someone's superhero.  That being said, we do have to keep in mind that we all can't save the world.  We may want to with all of our hearts but in the end it may break us to try.  You don't have to save the world to be a superhero though.  To those campers that are going to come past the yellow sign in 10 days you already are one.  You are someone to look up to.  Someone cool to hang out with.  Someone who isn't afraid to make a fool of themselves, let loose, and have fun.  To be a superhero, all you truly have to do is be there for your campers no matter what.  You may change the lives of one camper, ten campers, or a hundred campers this summer but no matter the number you will have made a difference in the life of a child and in saving the world.  You are superheroes.

As a staff member, you will not only make a difference, but you will also learn some lessons yourself.  Over the past two summers I have learned so many lessons at camp that I'm not sure I ever would have figured out on my own.  And it's because of the people I have worked with in the past and because of you all who are sitting around the council ring with me now.  Believe it or not, I'm already learning things from you even if I did just meet you six hours ago.

There are some things at camp that you'll probably pick up on right away.  Walking backwards over the backwards bridge, if you kill it you fill it, don't step over the logs at campfire, there are lazers and land mines in Josh Carr's yard, and so much more.  And then there are those lessons that may take us a bit longer to figure out.

One that took me awhile is that it is okay to rely on other people.  We are a family here.  We have fun together.  We work together.  We joke around and poke fun at each other.  And we'll probably disagree with each other at times as well.  But at the end of the day this is our Foster family.  Through the good and the bad we have each others' backs and I know from experience that they will be there for you no matter what.  So rely on them.  Utilize them.  Because none of us will make it through this summer on our own.  So as you continue on this journey of becoming super heroes and secret agents for the Camper Intelligence Agency, I really can't emphasize it enough.