Fall Outdoor Education Camp

Fall season was spent at another camp, YMCA Camp Copneconic in Michigan. Why stay in one place when one can travel from camp to camp? This was my first season in an Outdoor Education position, and only my second camp that I worked at that was not a Girl Scout camp. I absolutely loved and am thankful for everything new that I learned and the opportunities I had while I was there.

My first official day after staff training, I ran six one-hour bike sessions in a row with just a lunch break in between. To say that my butt was sore was an understatement. YMCA Outdoor Ed’ camp was so different than what I was used to at my normal choice of summer camp. I was no longer in charge of a group of kids, but merely in charge of the program and education that they received while they were on that one or two-hour adventure with me. I ran environmental education, sports, high adventure, low-rope team building, animal interactions, archery, the list goes on and on. The night program could be quite exhausting after a day already filled with adventure, but was always amazing because it was full of night hikes, night activities, campfires, stories, songs, snacks, dances, and more. The night was different, magical, and my favorite part despite complaining once and a while during dinner because I had not yet been done with the day. The groups were school groups, private groups, youth church retreats, adult retreats, and my favorite—Girl Scouts. 

I lived in a house with other male and female staff with only one roommate and common showers and bathrooms. We had one or two days off a week if we were lucky, and the same could be said with nights. On days that I felt awake enough, my roommate and I would wake up early and go work out. Or after long days, the house would get together and we would go to the Y for a Zumba workout and all laugh at each other’s inability to look even remotely like the instructor. It was different than living in a unit with just a few other counselors or summer camp staff, the house helped to build a community of those that were living and working at camp throughout the year and it was an experience I am glad that I was able to have myself. The Fall just supported my decision to go back into camp life, because even though I missed my fiancé, didn’t have enough time off, and had to deal with the same issues during the summer—power outages and limited use of the showers, I made forever friends. And besides a couple of friends in college that I know I’ll have for life, camp is the only place since high school that I have met a few key forever friends even as an adult.

It even snowed while I was there in November and I could not have been more ecstatic to be back in the magic of the Midwest for those pre-Winter moments that no one but me is ever delighted to be a part of. Camp life is the best life, and it’s where I want to be forever.

“Adventure is out there!” Go find it!
The One and Only,
Carly K.