Me, my sister, and Lauren were driving to pick up some late night sushi and an Alanis Morisette song came on the radio. I made the comment that I wish I could be her because she "does whatever the hell she wants". And it's true; she speaks her mind and doesn't care who's listening.
I'm taking a stand (finally) about a number of things lately. I find myself getting angry, which is oddly refreshing. I'm taking matters into my own hands and not giving two shits about what other people think is best for me. I feel it.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Sunday, August 24, 2008
ten cuts, no shavings
So I just returned from a WONDERFUL final week at camp. Very chill, perfect weather, lovely staff. I feel like I've grown even closer with staff, including day camp.
We ventured to this random wood carving museum in Middle of Nowhere, Ohio while a majority of us were hungover. I was exhausted, so I fell asleep in one of the movies. But the other movie about Mooney Warther (the wood carver) had so many good quotes, including:
"I sees it in the wood"
"Ten cuts, no shavings"
and the magnificent plier tree.
Aside from that, I felt like I finally got to enjoy camp on my own terms. I tie-dyed, I hiked, I fished, I boated. I embraced everything about that place and loved it.
Today Jacquie and I went on an adventure to get our traguses (that hard part in front of the inside of your ear) pierced. We ended up with piercings, a loss of gas, a lot of turnarounds in Akron, and bellys full of delicious Metro Burger. I am satisfied and I don't think I will be getting any more piercings. I sure as hell am never going to get a tattoo. I can't deal with something that permanent, and my parents told me they would kill me.
Now I am ranting. I need to go organize my stuff and return to Akron tonight to visit Kelsey. It will be good to catch up on things.
We ventured to this random wood carving museum in Middle of Nowhere, Ohio while a majority of us were hungover. I was exhausted, so I fell asleep in one of the movies. But the other movie about Mooney Warther (the wood carver) had so many good quotes, including:
"I sees it in the wood"
"Ten cuts, no shavings"
and the magnificent plier tree.
Aside from that, I felt like I finally got to enjoy camp on my own terms. I tie-dyed, I hiked, I fished, I boated. I embraced everything about that place and loved it.
Today Jacquie and I went on an adventure to get our traguses (that hard part in front of the inside of your ear) pierced. We ended up with piercings, a loss of gas, a lot of turnarounds in Akron, and bellys full of delicious Metro Burger. I am satisfied and I don't think I will be getting any more piercings. I sure as hell am never going to get a tattoo. I can't deal with something that permanent, and my parents told me they would kill me.
Now I am ranting. I need to go organize my stuff and return to Akron tonight to visit Kelsey. It will be good to catch up on things.
Monday, August 18, 2008
blah-g
So looking back on yesterday's post, I realized that... it sucked. Sorry.
Since I am more mellow today and not as hyped up on, uhm, caffeine/anxiety, allow me to go into more detail about my experiences at camp.
As I mentioned before, I work at CYO Camp Christopher. What exactly is it, you ask? It's a Catholic resident camp for boys and girls between the ages of seven and sixteen. We have seven one week sessions per summer, although most kids only attend one of these sessions.
Now before you start making stereotypes about camp (like we're religious freaks or something of the sort), let me just state that you're probably wrong. I camped for five years, I've been on staff for three years, and in all my experience I have never felt pressured to believe anything- except for the fact that camp is the most beautiful and serene place on Earth. It allows me to grow in so many inexplicable ways and meet a diverse group of people.
We don't pray all day. We don't read the Bible all day. We don't restrict campers to one religion. We sing songs and teach kids to love each other. We read quotes from pop songs and Dr. Suess books and Gandhi. We listen to The Beatles or Bob Marley or Disney soundtracks.
It's awesome.
Aside from all that, this summer was my first as a full time camp counselor. Which is ironic because I spent half of it in kitchen, but hey- I love food. I love free time (which you get A LOT of in kitchen). I love Sherry (the head of kitchen).
However, I also loved working in close contact with kids. I had a lot of tough situations to deal with this summer, including a death threat. My very first cabin this summer consisted of sixteen 12-year-old girls... and me. Alone. It was intimidating, but whatever. I was fine until I came back from roving (monitoring another cabin) to discover that my one camper tried to strangle another girl with a headband.
That was scary.
I had been so stressed out from the entire day that I just started bawling in front of my friends Melissa and Chelsea. But the situation was dealt with, the girl was sent home, the other parents were notified.
After all that, my mom told me "Well Gina, if you can handle that, you can handle anything this summer".
You're probably thinking "That sounds like an awful job! Dealing with difficult situations and lots of young kids? How much do you get paid?" I've heard that all before, and my response has always been: "It's worth it."
I don't do it for the money (okay, it's nice though... with the little money I make). If I did it for the money, I would go get a job at Subway or something like any other student.
I do it for the experience of helping kids have a fun and memorable summer. I do it because I too have a fun and memorable summer, filled with so many inside jokes and crazy stories.
Not to mention, camp staff is notorious for being:
a) cigarette smokers (which I am not) and
b) borderline alcoholics (...potentially).
My favorite cabin of the summer was named Junipero Serra. It was the second youngest girls cabin and they were SO GOOD. I was a bit nervous at first to have a younger group of girls, but more nervous to be working with Belen, a foreign exchange counselor from Spain.
However, Belen was flippin sweet and the girls all loved her. I loved her as well. We had a group of six Spanish counselors (including Belen) come from Spain to work for five weeks at camp. They were sweet. There was Belen the sporty one, Elena the beautiful one, Maria the flirt, Alberto the... tanner?, Javi the goofball, and Vasili the ninja/artist. Yes, I did say ninja. He did flips and shit off the walls (literally) of the dining hall... it was unreal.
But what was so unique about Vasili was his history. He was born in Russia and was adopted at the age of 9 by Spanish parents. He and his brother moved to Spain without knowing any Spanish, but they managed to become nearly fluent in about nine months.
That just makes me feel like a lazy ass. I mean seriously, I took Spanish for four years and I am not even close to being fluent.
I guess the best place to stop being lazy would for me to get off this computer. I'm quite glad to be returning to camp tomorrow. It will help me bide some time before I leave for school, and I'll get a chance to hang out with Jacquie (one of my best friends) and some other camp people that I won't see until next summer. Womp.
Since I am more mellow today and not as hyped up on, uhm, caffeine/anxiety, allow me to go into more detail about my experiences at camp.
As I mentioned before, I work at CYO Camp Christopher. What exactly is it, you ask? It's a Catholic resident camp for boys and girls between the ages of seven and sixteen. We have seven one week sessions per summer, although most kids only attend one of these sessions.
Now before you start making stereotypes about camp (like we're religious freaks or something of the sort), let me just state that you're probably wrong. I camped for five years, I've been on staff for three years, and in all my experience I have never felt pressured to believe anything- except for the fact that camp is the most beautiful and serene place on Earth. It allows me to grow in so many inexplicable ways and meet a diverse group of people.
We don't pray all day. We don't read the Bible all day. We don't restrict campers to one religion. We sing songs and teach kids to love each other. We read quotes from pop songs and Dr. Suess books and Gandhi. We listen to The Beatles or Bob Marley or Disney soundtracks.
It's awesome.
Aside from all that, this summer was my first as a full time camp counselor. Which is ironic because I spent half of it in kitchen, but hey- I love food. I love free time (which you get A LOT of in kitchen). I love Sherry (the head of kitchen).
However, I also loved working in close contact with kids. I had a lot of tough situations to deal with this summer, including a death threat. My very first cabin this summer consisted of sixteen 12-year-old girls... and me. Alone. It was intimidating, but whatever. I was fine until I came back from roving (monitoring another cabin) to discover that my one camper tried to strangle another girl with a headband.
That was scary.
I had been so stressed out from the entire day that I just started bawling in front of my friends Melissa and Chelsea. But the situation was dealt with, the girl was sent home, the other parents were notified.
After all that, my mom told me "Well Gina, if you can handle that, you can handle anything this summer".
You're probably thinking "That sounds like an awful job! Dealing with difficult situations and lots of young kids? How much do you get paid?" I've heard that all before, and my response has always been: "It's worth it."
I don't do it for the money (okay, it's nice though... with the little money I make). If I did it for the money, I would go get a job at Subway or something like any other student.
I do it for the experience of helping kids have a fun and memorable summer. I do it because I too have a fun and memorable summer, filled with so many inside jokes and crazy stories.
Not to mention, camp staff is notorious for being:
a) cigarette smokers (which I am not) and
b) borderline alcoholics (...potentially).
My favorite cabin of the summer was named Junipero Serra. It was the second youngest girls cabin and they were SO GOOD. I was a bit nervous at first to have a younger group of girls, but more nervous to be working with Belen, a foreign exchange counselor from Spain.
However, Belen was flippin sweet and the girls all loved her. I loved her as well. We had a group of six Spanish counselors (including Belen) come from Spain to work for five weeks at camp. They were sweet. There was Belen the sporty one, Elena the beautiful one, Maria the flirt, Alberto the... tanner?, Javi the goofball, and Vasili the ninja/artist. Yes, I did say ninja. He did flips and shit off the walls (literally) of the dining hall... it was unreal.
But what was so unique about Vasili was his history. He was born in Russia and was adopted at the age of 9 by Spanish parents. He and his brother moved to Spain without knowing any Spanish, but they managed to become nearly fluent in about nine months.
That just makes me feel like a lazy ass. I mean seriously, I took Spanish for four years and I am not even close to being fluent.
I guess the best place to stop being lazy would for me to get off this computer. I'm quite glad to be returning to camp tomorrow. It will help me bide some time before I leave for school, and I'll get a chance to hang out with Jacquie (one of my best friends) and some other camp people that I won't see until next summer. Womp.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
viva la vida
So I decided make a blog. I know, I'm a huge dork, you don't need to tell me twice. I figured since I'm a journalism major I should start writing...
The question is, about what?
I thought the best place to start would be my summer. I'm a camp counselor at CYO Camp Christopher (camping at its finest! Oh wait, we changed the slogan to "growing in nature, community, and spirit). This place is my home, my love, my life.
Wow I sound like I'm in a cult. Seriously though, I had a fantastic experience there this summer. I feel like I've grown so much. I'm going back on Tuesday for old people camp (which I've never worked before), so that should be interesting.
As I write this, I feel jittery and my hands are shaking a lot. I think I am addicted to coffee. I had an I.C. caramel from Panera today, which is the first coffee drink I have consumed since Tuesday, and my nerves are going haywire.
I've felt like this a lot this summer. Jumpy, unsettled. Maybe I just need to be at peace with something. I find that peace at camp, but hopefully I will find it at college as well.
The question is, about what?
I thought the best place to start would be my summer. I'm a camp counselor at CYO Camp Christopher (camping at its finest! Oh wait, we changed the slogan to "growing in nature, community, and spirit). This place is my home, my love, my life.
Wow I sound like I'm in a cult. Seriously though, I had a fantastic experience there this summer. I feel like I've grown so much. I'm going back on Tuesday for old people camp (which I've never worked before), so that should be interesting.
As I write this, I feel jittery and my hands are shaking a lot. I think I am addicted to coffee. I had an I.C. caramel from Panera today, which is the first coffee drink I have consumed since Tuesday, and my nerves are going haywire.
I've felt like this a lot this summer. Jumpy, unsettled. Maybe I just need to be at peace with something. I find that peace at camp, but hopefully I will find it at college as well.
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