Something to write home about

Bruceville, Texas, is an exciting place to live.

Starting my eighth summer – third on staff – at Greene Family Camp, I basically know what to expect from the town and camp itself. This central-Texas town doesn’t offer much in the way of entertainment (the best thing that happened in the past few years is that a new Sonic was built within a two-mile radius of camp).

Although the town alone doesn’t offer much in the way of nightlife, the camp is a bustling sphere of arts and crafts, sports and Israelis. The staff comes from all over the world (Russia, Israel, Australia, Canada and the United States) and it definitely makes this place a fun atmosphere to live and work. The different cultural backgrounds, even between the American staff, contribute to the interesting conversations that we have throughout the two months at camp.

While we have a diverse group of campers and counselors, we all live in our own bubble. It’s a separation from the outside world that is unlike anywhere else.
Every year, I continue to return to this place because of the amazing people, and the entertainment that results from spending time with and living with 9-year-olds. The kids that I have each year definitely are a large reason that camp is so much fun. Here, I learn more about myself than at IU, and I take joy in taking care of other people’s children.

Camp is all about trying new things, both for the campers and staff. We all test out new activities, meet new people and learn to live and share with them. The staff takes on the added responsibility of making sure that the kids have an amazing time – this can be difficult when you add in the hot-as-hell weather, the homesickness and the change of routine.

The campers choose different activities to participate in and each counselor takes them to their activities. Recently, I was in charge of tennis, a sport that I personally have wanted to learn to play for three years now.

My tennis skills pretty much match those of a 9-year-old, so for me it was the perfect way to learn how to hit a ball accurately and just learn some of the rules. We played different games that improved the kids’ tennis skills and it was definitely a blast; every time I hit a ball, I got super excited, just like my campers.

One day, I told one of the kids to go before me during a game. She responded by telling me, “No, I want you to go first. Then, I won’t be the first one out.”

Her response made me feel awesome, because it meant that I was helping her feel better; if her 20-year-old counselor can’t hit the ball then it is OK she can’t either.

As hard as it can be sometimes, this is my second home. Because I can be myself, I am more comfortable here than I could be anywhere else. I love that it is perfectly acceptable – and even encouraged – to be as goofy, silly and excitable as possible.
I think everyone needs a little bit of time in the camp bubble.