This is the first week I’ve had off in a while. I started off my summer at a temp office job and immediately followed that with working at the arts camp that occupied my life for the last six weeks. As nice as it is to begin the transition back to my “normal” schedule (and I use the word normal loosely, as it is anything but that), I’m definitely going to miss what this summer had to offer.
The camp was an absolute blast to be a part of. I feel like I got real lucky with the kids that were placed in my group. They were all super smart, unbelievably mature for their age and just overall some of the coolest kids I’ve ever met. I certainly wasn’t that cool when I was their age. The best part about the camp was, as a counselor, I basically hung out with them throughout the day as we enjoyed some “group time,” then went off to their three classes: media arts, performing arts, and visual arts. By the last week, they had made their own short film, performed in an original play, and created an art installation. What have you done lately?
Some of my group favs in costume for their final performance.
Each Friday, we’d either have a field trip (i.e. a scavenger hunt at the Art Insitute - which my team won! - and writing haikus inspired by the surroundings at the Botanic Gardens) or special guest instructor workshops. I even got to teach some improv workshops to all the campers one day! Best of all, though, was definitely lunchtime outside in Grant Park. I got to relive my grade school glory days with large games of dodgeball. Yes, I can’t believe I got paid to do all this fun stuff either.
The hours were long and the kids definitely tested my patience at times, but I’m only a few days removed from camp and I already miss it. The staff I worked with was amazing and I hope a lot of them (including myself) return next summer to do it all over again. Most of all, I can’t wait to see some of these kids again to see how they’ve changed in a year. You can already see the type of people they’re going to grow up to be and most of them have given me hope that all is not lost after all…
Group 4 - “Fournets”; Summer Arts Camp 2011.
