It's official - I leave for Turkey in exactly one month! This summer, I'll be going international to work in Istanbul, Turkey for two weeks, returning home, and then shipping out to Colorado for Quantum University (Quantum U/QU) and Leadership Forum (L Forum/LF) before flying back to northern California for the final Senior Forum camp at Stanford! It's going to be quite the summer. I've been struggling to make it through this last week or so of classes, but freedom is so close that I can almost smell Pizza Port in downtown Carlsbad already.

I'm meeting Amy Smith, the lead at LF, for dinner tonight in the Easy Bay, so that'll be a party. And then, probably a week from Friday, I'll head to the offices to see if they need any help! Fabulous.

So, Supercamp 2010 begins in less than 2 months for me, if all goes as planned. And, it's going to be one of my legitimate goals this summer to keep up with this thing!

I'm waiting on a phone call (the life of a TL pre-camp, it feels like) to get my confirmed summer schedule, and am hoping to hear back this week. Will update with details then.

Can't wait...

Note to self: buy Warheads in mass quantities next year - camper & staff faces alike should be documented, whether through video or picture.

camp day 4 - outdoor adventure day

I know I skipped from pre-Day 1 with campers all the way to Day 4, but go with it. A very short, very quick sum-up of my junior forum Outdoor Adventure Day:

worked incredibly hard to get Brannan, one of our more emotional campers, all the way up the ladder on a high event, away from the pole to which he was clinging for dear life, off the platform on which he literally remained frozen for a good 2-3 minutes, onto the wires that he had planned to avoid at all costs, and safely to the ground. I need to take ownership for my dedication, fast thinking, and overall effectiveness with Brannan. I don't know how I did it, but I got him down, just as one of the personnel running the camp had begun to harness up to climb to Brannan and physically take him down.

In response to this, I didn't get an acknowledgment from my lead Kelly, but from Chicka, one of the most integral pieces to the SuperCamp puzzle. It was a short and indirect acknowledgment, but it isn't something that I'll forget. I felt incredibly proud and valued.

pre-camper moments II - barrier breaking

Barrier breaking was epic. Because every person on staff, excluding one of my TLPs, Sean, and Laura, the "Wellness Person" aka equivalent to an on-site nurse, are returners, they changed some things up about training. Typically, staff does barrier breaking together in the main room, with "Eye of the Tiger" blaring and more yelling, screaming, and energy than you can imagine.

Instead, the facs (facilitators) led us out to a patch of grass by the UW campus that overlooked what I believe to be Lake Union. It was such a different vibe, there was a fraction of as much yelling, it was beautiful out, and there was an element to just peace that streamed through the activity.

Once again, I did greater things that I could have imagined, and broke my fourth board. This time around, my goal was "Teacher of the Year", while my barrier was "fear of new + challenging experiences". Even if I am entirely sure that I'll strive in a certain activity or field, the fear of new things keeps me from fully putting in 120% effort sometimes. I'm excited that I broke through that barrier physically and am now working on breaking through it both mentally and emotionally.

I am surrounded by wonderful people.

pre-camper moments IV

from 7/17/09 journaling:

Wow. Today was a blast. This staff has so much fun together. Logs were tiring, but I'm proud of my affirmation posters (all 20 or so!). I guess you could say that you know it's been a good, productive day when you have Mr. Sketch markers all over your fingers from 7 hours ago. The games were too much. We're going to have a fun camp. I'm excited for cute nightly meetings. I am scared+excited=anxious about TLPs (TL Partners). I just feel like the 2/3 last summer could have been better. Choosing to be hopeful.

Update:
The affirmation posters look great, I only cringe when I see a certain few in the girls' hallways. As for TLPs, mine are amazing. I was paired with Sean and Julia, and we have a blast. They're both hilarious in their own ways and we mesh incredibly well. And, as usual, it's hilarious to watch male TLs get so irritated by the campers that they start whispering things in your ear like "Is it bad that I want to kill half of them?".

also...

pictures and more meaningful posts to come once campers arrive.