For the past four summers, I have worked on a 535-acre, manmade lake in the heart of beautiful Chester County, Pennsylvania. Besides its beauty, the lake is also known for its many recreational activities for all ages, including: kayaking, sailing, fishing, canoeing and even full-moon night tours when nature cooperates.
Early summer mornings are not a problem when I get the chance to serve as a camp counselor. This opportunity is a blast and, more importantly, very rewarding. As a head counselor, my job is to make sure the kids have fun and stay safe around the water. However, one of my favorite parts of the job is to watch kids lock their devices in the lockers for the day. It is obvious that this pulls some kids out of their comfort zone, but before long we have the campers reconnecting with each other and nature. …show more content…
With a full day of unstructured play, I witnessed campers try new things such as jumping into the lake using a rope swing or taking control of a sailboat. It didn’t take long for their self-esteem to kick in, which made me feel confident in my abilities as role model and