Lessons Learned In Non-Camp Counseling

My drive to help others stems from my time volunteering with the service organization, Rotary, and their leadership program, Camp RYLA. When I attended this camp as a high schooler, I learned invaluable lessons of self-confidence and connecting with others, traits seldom found in a high school environment. My experience at this program inspired me to return as a counselor, where I have been helping foster the growth of today’s youth for the past four years.

This summer I was given the amazing opportunity to be a camp counselor. At first, I was hesitant because I wanted to spend my summer having fun. I thought about it a lot and soon realized that the opportunity was a dream come true. I had always wanted to have a group of little girls who loved me and thought I was the coolest person ever. My summer was absolutely perfect. Three things that made my summer perfect were my kids, my job, and my memories.

By December 2017, year round counseling session will be available to women faced with sexual violence.

This year I went to a field trip at FFA for a leadership bonding experience with my keystone class. My group behead Dylan Godsave, Caleb Tidd and Ivy Murphy. We got to know each other a lot better through games and activities that are leader, Becky told us today. We first started off throwing stuffed monkeys to each other and saying the person's

During the last two weeks of my summer employment with the Salvation Army Pine Lake Camp, a team including myself was sent to The Salvation Army Berkshire Citadel to run a series of camps, but there was a few unforeseen complications. Our team lead had to be suddenly transferred to another team, leaving the Calgary team in a predicament. Before the issue had even been raised to the group, I was approached by the camp program director, she pulled me aside and asked if I would be willing to colead the team. I was shocked, and honored she acknowledged me, as the youngest person on the team, to be given so much responsibility. The role I had been given required myself and a college student to work together to coordinate, promote, budget, and

Jay Adams developed Nouthetic Counseling after years of obtaining secular education and shadowing others in the field of psychology. The main premise of Adams' methodology incorporates that hope is found in Jesus Christ, the scripture is the source of authority, and a counselor is dependent on the Holy Spirit, and this dependence should be taught and modeled to the counselee. This method focuses on how sin is the primary source of most problems and the need for humans to take responsibility for change.

“Hiking Boots ONLY: NO Running Shoes” read the reflective yellow sign at the trailhead. But, as thousands of climbers before us, we acknowledged the warning and began our trek up the mountain without much consideration. Everything went according to plan, until about an hour into the trip when the small yellow plaque had its revenge. Climbing over the crest of a hill just over halfway through the journey, I turned around and found Mark lying on the ground, clutching his ankle.

Amongst the many adventures of Hugo, he runs into a girl named Isabelle, who also lost both of her parents at a young age. Although neither child knew of the others past initially upon meeting, I do believe it brought them together in a special way. There is not much of a difference between a counselor and a counseling camp, such as bereavement camps, in the same way that there is not a difference between a person who has and hasn’t lost a parent, other than the circumstance of course. However, despite the minuscule disparity, people have a way of sensing whom they can relate and confined in and I believe that is what Hugo and Isabelle felt with one another. The article continues to confer among similar topics, all of which I could relate back

This past summer, I had the opportunity to attend an amazing leadership camp called Rotary Youth Leadership Award (RYLA). For the whole week, I completed multiple workshops, while making new and long-lasting relationships. As my main workshop, I chose the service workshop; we created three separate service activities for the entire camp. My group was in charge of the self-love activity, promoting the idea of service while teaching the importance of self-worth and acceptance.

Becoming a summer camp counselor was one of the best decisions I have ever made. I was a camper for 10 years and the transition to counselor felt like a natural step forward. Even though I loved my job and the campers I spent my time with, it was far from easy. I was responsible for 10 to 30 children, 24 hours a day, and planned many of the activities the campers participated in. I was placed in this leadership position, but without the other 40 staff members, I would not have had a successful summer. Our team communicated well, relied on each other for support, and talked through any issues that arose.

I focused on camp as an opportunity to reach out to a population I previously did not interact with. My personal goal was to benefit the people at camp rather then completely focus on my own experience and how I would grow from it. While I do feel like I accomplished this in a small way, I found that in the Camp TEAM trainings there was a lot of focus on what the recreation program individuals got out of the experience. I think how the phase benefitted should be secondary to how others benefitted. Another part of being a servant leader is affecting change in the participants I found it hard to focus on this with such a limited amount of time. One of my biggest struggles while leading was trying to balance and implement a mentor rather then friend relationship. I wanted to be able to lead my cabin’s activities eloquently and connect to the people staying there but not cross any boundaries in my leadership role. It was somewhat confusing to be told that the phase was having the camper experience along side the buddy while still trying to be a camp facilitator and lead the activity. I hope to work on my mentor friend balance in future leadership

Last year, I got the opportunity to go to Snow King Ropes Course in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. While I was there, I learned a valuable lesson about perseverance and persistence. For most of my life, I was very determined but often lacked motivation. This prevented me from doing many of the things I aspired to do, and this experience helped me to better utilize that determination. This has helped me to improve my life and help the lives of those around me.

From Camp Olympia in May to “Footsteps to Success” in July, I have grown as a person. I can say that my management has completely changed. I am now able to change my schedule to fit what needs to be done for work, home, and my other commitments. I also became more fit through the program. Being a counsellor requires a lot of physical exertion right when the day starts until the very end. But I believe the biggest accomplishment I received from this program is acceptance. Our camp is incredibly diverse; consisting of Syrian, African-Canadian, Sri Lankan, and many more backgrounds. Being exposed to different cultures and habits allowed me to see the world in a bigger, less self-centred way. I helped me see that there is so much more to discover outside of

The most prominent memory that comes to mind is my involvement with the freshman retreat. As a Peer Minister, demonstrating leadership is part of the requirements in a way. However, the freshman retreat was truly a test of my skills. Since participation in the retreat is also an actual requirement of Peer Ministry, I was left to determine what leadership skills I possessed in order to lead my small group effectively. I was able to learn that though I may feel awkward, nervous, or uneasy about a situation, I am able to execute the task well if I have confidence in myself. Peer Ministry has truly taught me what leadership skills are and how to use them.

Before taking the Leadership and Teams module, I do not know what to expect in regard to what we would be doing throughout the semester. I didn’t have a lot of knowledge on leadership styles and I wanted to learn the most effective way of leading a group of people that could come in handy in the workplace. Throughout the semester, inside and outside of the classroom, I was able to pick up on forms of leadership that I not only used but some forms that my peers used. Looking at the Selside camping trip, rock climbing at The Edge, ice cream making activity, and my Easter break trip, I was able to observe the variety of leadership styles used in each of the given scenarios.