Tuesday, July 25, 2006

Camp

It's that time again! Camp time!
I first went to Camp MIDICHA 10 years ago.
It was the first time I truly realized that there were other diabetics in the world. Not just other adults, like my grandpa, but other kids! It was the first time I realized that I wasn't the only one who had vision changes with blood sugar changes. I wasn't the only one!
I went to midicha as a camper for 7 years, then became a CIT (counselor in training) and then a counselor. I wanted to be like all of the great counselors I had over the years.
I was sorely disappointed. My very first session, there were 4 other counselors in one cabin. Not fun. We stepped on each others toes all the time. The campers quickly learned that if one of us said no, they should just go to another one. It took us a while to get our act together. The second session of that year was even worse. I only had one co-counselor, like normal. Her name was Lisa and she was from Spain. Lisa seemed nice enough at first. Then she started disappearing. At first she said she had to have allergy shots. Every day. Riiight. Then, those half hour disappearance became several hours. Then she started telling me I was doing all the diabetes care wrong. There was no need to check campers again 15 minutes after they were low. It didn't really matter if we checked them at midnight or 4am. It was the same thing. The worst part is, I could get her in trouble because she was dating the head counselor.
The second year, I had high hopes. I walked into my cabin to meet my co-counselor. The first thing she tells me? She's usually a ranch staffer, so she's not used to being around the kids 24/7, and she's not happy about it. Great.....
So this year, I decided I wasn't going to work at camp. The plan was to get a summer job, and then I wouldn't have time for camp. I would plan a weekend to get together with my camp friends. However, the current job market and my friends did not cooperate. I did not land a job, and one of my friends still wanted to go to camp. So. Off to camp I go. Other than the bad co-counselors, camp has been pretty fun. If I get a good one this year, I'll go again next year. If not, then I don't know.

1 comment:

Scott K. Johnson said...

Sounds like you are a great counselor! I sure hope you get a partner or three that cooperate with your good intentions!

I'm sure we are all anxiously awaiting the after camp update!