Free-range camp director

Well, I did it. Not without some difficulties here and there, but I did it- I ran all five weeks of Camp Re-NEW-All with very problems. And my oh my, was it a learning experience for everyone involved. There are so many life lessons found in those five weeks, about being a leader, a good person, and a mom to roughly 90 people each week.

Things I learned:

1.) Not everyone gets my sense of humor - I should probably come with a warning label

2.) Positive reinforcement works wonders

3.) I am the bad cop, and the good cop. It's difficult sometimes to be both.

4.) Allowing the group to see my failings, as well as my successes creates a more open, warm environment.

5.) Don't be afraid to make changes - if I do it with confidence, everyone will follow suit because I'm the leader

Things I wished I knew:



1.) The best cure for homesickness is creating a family

2.) It can be lonely

3.) There is no better feeling than being called "Mom" and hearing 90 kids say "yes ma'am"

4.) I would fall in love with every single one of those kids

The most important thing that I learned, and that I wish I knew was garnered from Fr. Tom McGann, who was our Camp priest at 2C and came for confessions as much as possible. "Every time you look at the campers," he said, "see the face of God. Serve them as if they were Jesus. Because they are, we all have Him inside of us."



That piece of advice was all I needed to survive 3C, hump week, and my personally hardest week of the summer, and to make the final two such a success.

Camp is over until next July, and I'm no longer tied to the camp ground, I'm free-range, as my staff would say, and I'm so happy to be, but I'll also admit that I teared up a bit this past Friday, leaving my camp behind, and moving on from it, until next year.

Totus tuus,

LeAnn