Reflecting on My Summer at Camp – Guest Post by Alex King

Alex King was a counselor for the first time in the summer of 2014.  He is currently in his second year of a Primary Education degree at a university in the North West of England. He will be joining us this summer as a returning counselor! Alex shared with us some of his favorite memories from last summer.

The summer that I spent at the Bar 717 ranch has definitely been one of the best of my life. Having grown up in a fairly built up area in the UK the scale and sheer beauty of the ranch took my breath away from day one, and that was just the start of it. As someone training for a career in education, the ranch changed my perspective on a lot of things. I saw children learn more through enjoyment of the wonderful environment here than in many classrooms I have been in. It has certainly made a big impact on how I plan to approach my life as a teacher.  More than that, the experiences here changed my outlook on life in general and I have taken the attitude of pitching in and working together as a big family to make things the best they can be back to my home life.

I know that other counselors along with myself found that the atmosphere really allowed us to push ourselves and achieve more than we thought we could. Most of my favorite memories of camp came from spending time with all of the amazing people that I got to work with and alongside throughout the summer, whether it be my fellow staff members, our great sets of campers or the very supportive parents. Working as a councilor at the Bar 717 allowed me to do things I might never otherwise have done: sleeping under the stars for a whole 10 weeks, swimming in a natural river every day and climbing the fabled Gates Mountain. I don’t think anyone left camp without a group of friends that they will remember for a long time — myself included — and that is my favorite thing about this summer.