Southern California Council of Chinese Schools Summer Camp Counseling

From July 1st to July 7th, I camp counseled for the SCCCS Summer Camp. While counseling small, young children ages 7-11, I had a hard time at first but then really seemed to get the hang of handling kids. My group consisted of two counselors (one of them being myself), 14 young girls, and the guardian who was a legal adult to fill in for both me and the other counselor when we attended the counselor meetings. On the first day, we tried some team bonding and ice breaker games to really get our girls to feel comfortable towards each other. Some girls were so shy and did not want to join the circle of fun at all, but by the final day, I was definitely able to see some change in all of them. We boarded the bus and all the girls seemed so shy, except maybe one or two who were willing to tell some riddles. The ride was very long, but I had to be strong since these girls were already looking up to me as their role model. To Big Bear, the ride was almost two and a half hours since the bus was large so the bus had to drive slowly. Our kiddos started to bond on the bus ride because we gave everyone cute nicknames and fun ways to remember their names. When we arrived, it was HOT. Like really hot. The campsite was at Camp Oakes, a camp at the tip of Big Bear. So, that meant that we were extra close to the sun and the altitude was super duper high! I could feel my skin drying and my lips immediately shriveled up (not really) 🙂 We enjoyed a little lunch and then headed off to our cabins. The girls picked who they wanted to bunk with and then we settled down in our bunks. They were wild trying to pick their bunk so I had

When we arrived, it was HOT. Like really hot. The campsite was at Camp Oakes, a camp at the tip of Big Bear. So, that meant that we were extra close to the sun and the altitude was super duper high! I could feel my skin drying and my lips immediately shriveled up (not really) 🙂 We enjoyed a little lunch and then headed off to our cabins. The girls picked who they wanted to bunk with and then we settled down in our bunks. They were wild trying to pick their bunk so I had settle them down and give them suggestions as to who to bunk with and who should sleep on the top and who should sleep at the bottom. Then, we went on a nature hike which was really intense! I was surprised that our girls could handle it because I could barely handle it. Then, we had dinner. Dinner was steak, I think? After dinner, May and I had the girls decorate their team flag and decide what our team mascot would be. The girls voted on being the red dragons. Then, I had them all work on the flag a little bit, all with jobs that are equally important so that no one felt left out. I could already see the bonding that they were having. Girls were saying, "That looks good." After the flag decorating, all teams at the camp went back to their cabin to get ready to go to bed. I would say that the getting ready for bed part of camp was the most difficult. The girls are all so young so they need a lot of help getting ready for bed. I would get questions like "Can you help me open this toothpaste?" or "How do you turn on the shower?". These questions were asked towards me at the same time, so I had about 5 girls surrounding me, flooding me with questions. While being bombarded with questions, I had to get the girls into the shower. Since we were at camp, our kiddos had 3 minutes to shower. So, we were able to have all the girls shower really quickly. I was occupied the whole time because I had to have girls be "on deck", which is basically having them get in line. Girls needed my help turning on the shower and hanging their towel. It was quite stressful 🙂

Then, we had dinner. Dinner was steak, I think? After dinner, May and I had the girls decorate their team flag and decide what our team mascot would be. The girls voted on being the red dragons. Then, I had them all work on the flag a little bit, all with jobs that are equally important so that no one felt left out. I could already see the bonding that they were having. Girls were saying, "That looks good." After the flag decorating, all teams at the camp went back to their cabin to get ready to go to bed. I would say that the getting ready for bed part of camp was the most difficult. The girls are all so young so they need a lot of help getting ready for bed. I would get questions like "Can you help me open this toothpaste?" or "How do you turn on the shower?". These questions were asked towards me at the same time, so I had about 5 girls surrounding me, flooding me with questions. While being bombarded with questions, I had to get the girls into the shower. Since we were at camp, our kiddos had 3 minutes to shower. So, we were able to have all the girls shower really quickly. I was occupied the whole time because I had to have girls be "on deck", which is basically having them get in line. Girls needed my help turning on the shower and hanging their towel. It was quite stressful 🙂

As the days went on, the girls were more and more comfortable with each other. The oldest girl in our group was 11, the youngest 7. I was so happy to see that our counseling was at work because the oldest girl and the youngest were playing with each other. The oldest girl let the little girl sit on her lap; it was like they were big sister and little sister. The days went on and I was more and more comfortable with counseling them. The kiddos asked me questions and I could respond quickly. They needed help and I knew exactly what to do. The girlies had a bloody nose and I immediately took them to the health cottage.

Overall, being a counselor for the youngest girls at the camp was a lifechanging experience. I learned that being a leader can be hard, but at the same time I felt that I grew. I grew to learn how to handle kids and this was one of my best experiences as a 14 year old.