Never be afraid to learn

Day 3 was so much smoother than the first two days. I love how the children wait for us every morning with enthusiasm. When we get out of our cars, they all start chanting their colors and running towards us to give us hugs and high fives.

This morning, Unger Caspar taught them a new A.R.F  ‘ganch’, and almost instantly the campers picked it up and started chanting. It gave me goose bumps.

The other counselors and I have organized the days so well that everything is running smoothly. At first I thought that being in a classroom would be too chaotic, but the most important part of these children’s day is learning something new. They love the English lessons. Of course they misbehave in the classroom, but when it actually comes down to it, they are completely interested.

We, as counselors, have already gotten the flow of things and every afternoon after camp we talk about what went good and what we can do to improve any rough edges.

Although I must maintain an authoritarian role to keep the camp running calmly, I’m happy that I’m making a difference in these children’s life. Even though at times I wish there were more of us in charge of all these children who wait all year long for these two weeks of camp, the entire day is filled with the kid’s excitement, and you could tell in their eyes that they’re happy because their energy tells us so. Not only do we all see and feel this happiness, the children constantly remind us that they’re so happy to be here, and that gives me motivation to wake up in the morning and go to camp with a smile on my face every single day.

Siroon Parseghian