Guest post by Sinead Collins, barn-counselor extraordinaire and member of our 2015 staff.
When I was in high school I would imagine all of the things that I wanted to do when I was older. The list was endless! My summers would be filled with one adventure after another. I had always been around horses growing up and spent a lot of my childhood camping around Europe, climbing mountains and being outside as much as I possibly could.
I was in my second year of university when I came across the idea of being a camp counsellor. Summer camps are unheard of here in the UK, so my only glimpse into the world of camp was through TV. Naturally what I expected was your typical Parent Trap style camp where you pierce your ears, cut your hair, and pranks are a daily occurrence. Of course some of what I anticipated was true… smores ARE REAL (and delicious!), tie dye is very much in existence and camp fires aren’t just a thing in the movies. There were still hair cuts; but only on the bravest counsellors, and there was still the odd prank played on counsellors from time to time. But, what I did not expect was this amazing place where children can make their own decisions and constantly try new things, have endless amounts of fun, create life long friendships and grow with confidence with each passing day.
It’s the first night of the session and there are nearly 150 kids, whose names I am struggling to remember, sat around the camp fire singing songs. At this point it’s easy to pick out those who have been campers before from those that are sat nervously too shy to sing the songs wondering how their next 2 weeks will be. Watching these kids form friendship groups, in the same way that us counsellors did, through the experience they received by coming to the ranch is what has truly stuck with me.
What was that experience you ask?
It’s all the time we had to enjoy ourselves, have our patience tested; have a cold shower because we didn’t get up from the swim hole fast enough. It’s trying to catch the horses because they’ve escaped onto barn hill. It’s the personal thoughts you collect while hiking miles or listening to Vespers. It’s wearing your craziest outfit to the dance or picking blackberries to make jam. It’s the friendships that are made. It’s the laughs, the memories and the sense of accomplishment when you make it back from an overnight. Seeing a camper do something for the first time and sleeping under the stars. It’s writing a hand written letter. Listening to the rain hit the metal roof of the platform and the homestead snack that helps you up the hill. It’s hauling bag after bag up Big Foot Hill and the time you get to spend in nature away from electronics and the cares of the world. It’s finding the courage to jump off of Emily’s rock, stomping in the hosepipe water at the harvest festival and feeling like you never want to leave.
And so here I sit again on the last night of camp and the same children are sat around another camp fire. Except this time those same campers, who struggled to join in just 2 weeks ago, are sat arm in arm with the friends that they have made, shouting out the words to the songs they now know by heart.
A last word: My time at the Bar 717 would not have been made as incredible as it was, without the campers and my fellow counselors. A special shout out to my Twin Fawn girls who left me hysterics for most of the summer; and a very big thank you to all the counselors that got to create countless memories with me.
