Halfway there

Week 1 of three of Session 2 is over. 

Time is starting to pick up, it is a really bitter sweet thing. 

The challenge team is made up of some of the most amazing people and I consider it a privilege to be able to spend these short 10 weeks with them. We met only 5 weeks ago, yet it feels as if we have known each other for ages. 

This week was a good one in challenge. I have had the opportunity to work with a group of 7 girls between the ages of 13-15. These girls are truly phenomenal. We have been working with them on teamwork and effective communication. They are all very competitive so it can be a struggle for people to feel they are being heard or appreciated in the group. 

Yesterday I took them up on the multivine in the high ropes course. Some really incredible moments happened up there. One girl started crying after she came down and her whole team was there by her side immediately. Chants of "we're here for you" "you can do it" "i know how you feel i was just as scared" were heard all through the hour. They were being open, they were being vulnerable(a crucial part of this process), they were connecting. I had to step back and think to myself, "this is my job, I hang out with kids and help them find better sides to themselves." 

I am so incredibly lucky. 

Every day I laugh.

If you don't laugh you'll cry as we say here. 

Moments of the week:

Calling Seth(a camper on the spectrum) from the challenge phone and ordering pizzas then asking him where they were whenever i saw him. 

Peter walking over to the 5 gallon bucket of water I had out for a game, picking the whole thing up and dumping it on himself then just looking at me and saying, "wet boy! happy boy! i sorry!" 

Adam (one of my campers) seeing bananas on the table for breakfast, throwing his hands up and running out the other side of the dining hall saying, "IT'S A BANANA DEATH TRAP!!"

From Natalie: JD was climbing up on high ropes and just kept going "sweet mother molasses! i can't die this way!" He also always asks to see our smiles.

David telling us every day that he is going to go get starbucks on his day off - i bet he'll have a story about it tomorrow. 

This place is crazy. 

It's a really great job I have, exhausting but wonderful. No doubt I'm looking forward to being back in Utah, but i will also miss it here. We play with kids. What more could you want?

This poem describes exactly what I do and what I want to do with my career path. 

I tried to teach my child with books

he gave me only puzzled looks 

I tried to teach my child with words

they passed him by often unheard

despairingly, i turned aside 

how shall i teach this child i cried!

come, he said, play with me. 

Keep a childlike awe. 

love life. 

see you soon utah.