well at least i didnt forget...

Its weird how far behind i am lets see last time i wrote a blog it was week two were no at week 6 session 5. and we just got done with out 2 week session. This session is different because the kids come and stay over the weeked and then part of the next week... 12 days... gotta say this was the week i was looking forawrd to the most... usually its 5 days with the kids then they are gone from 7-9 we spend time hanging out doing what they want... on the 12 day we have them over the weekend... over the weekend the boy scouts really have nothing going on activity wise so its up to us to fill the day with activities. A pause here because i feel like im making it sound like a huge deal like awww man the boys scouts are closed so we HAVE to find something to do to entertain these kids for 2 days, not my point at all just after relying on the boy scouts for 4 weeks getting routines and stuff going this is definitely a curve ball... or is it a slider??? screw ball?? sorry not important... so we had movie night and a gold rush (treasure hunt on sat and sun and that made up some of the time then there was a fishing derby sponsored by the nh fish and game service. they came out with some fishing poles and worms taught the kids to fish and made sure ever one was safe... so much fun the kids really enjoyed the attention and lessons they learned... when it was over there was a nice bbq... and then we broke off to do out own things really the kids had fun even my camper who did not participate but really enjoyed the excitement given off by the event and staff... I had another non verbal camper this week.. again dealt with the negatives of a child not being able to say hey chris you idiot its hot out side and im hot take me inside to the nice air conditioned room. its fine i understand it its just at the same time i really dont like getting scratched... and then at the exact same time you say to yourself well how else is he supposed to tell you something is wrong its his way of expressing him self... thats what it is for me not having delt with these disabilities day after day but still being educated an aware of what all this means... scratches still hurt and im not at that stage of calm and collective understanding... like there was a staffer who got hit but he has been dealing with this he took it and immediately began to make sure the child was okay that he was taken care of befor next attending to himself... seriously looked on with aww at that i got punched and kicked in week 2 and i hated it absolutely and by the end of the week was seriously doubting my ability to hold back my frustration. whats weird is i got councilor of the week that week for my patience but by the end i had none 5 days and i was left just upset and not wanting to take anymore crap... the other side to that is you look back on your week and think how could i have those thoughts of A loosing my cool on a child and B even understanding the fact that he is non verbal and this is again his way of saying i dont want this. sometimes it seems impossible to do this job... i look around at some of the staff and am amazed at how well they handle themselves most of them having done jobs like this before... im amazed at the creativity... no thats wrong this instantaneous creativity... let me pause again and add that i have alway been jealous of those peers who have been able to create things out of nothing... my brother for instance used to collect little star trek figurines like the plastic (small) figurines of star ships... and he created a board game... i always kick myself when i remember i threw all of it away when i moved... but its that start of creativity that makes me sooo jealous of others... i am creative dont get me wrong but it takes me time to see the best thing to move forward with... my goal is that instantanious click of hmmm he loves bells lets make some music record it on my iphone and then play it back for him when he gets alittle moody... freaking genius and im sitting there jaws wide going wow never in a million years would i have thought that...

Wow 1 week down

So exausted/ happy / sad/ full of / knowlage... its amazing coming off this im exausted but suffering from an emotion high... sit and think for a moment any human being would love camp right (well all those not glued to television but...) say you are i kid who has a disability which limits you to attending other camps you may only be in a wheel chair or have a behavioral problem but here we dont care... wheel chair or not we are here to make sure the kids have fun.... doing what they can do... they have a limited choice we can only use the boy scouts and what ingenuity we might have (i.e. we created a basketball court) we have night activities like camp fires and sports night and a dance our campfires are usually full of laughter and cheer and boyscout troops often join in the fun... the smiles are always flashing and the odd yell and scream are quickly assessed and learned from (so that either we or the camper never make that mistake again) during the day we hike, swim, fish, shoot or join in the ropes courses. We take part in boy scout activites and the campers really feel that connection they like to know their names and follow along because when it all boils down every one is the same some kids may need just alittle more help completing a task and thats what were here for we dont run camp the kids do we just make sure they are health safe and always smiling.
I love my job and i thank Rob for bringing a great group of co-workers together. We really have bonded in 2 short weeks and one amazing trip. i know they have my back and they never critizie only help we pick up each others slack when ever possible because were here for the kids and we all understand that we respect each other and want them to be safe and healthy but the kids are our goal and if some one slips up another steps in to make sure the camper is fine while the councilor takes care of there needs.
i really feel like i have stept into a well oiled machine we come from different back grounds different amounts of experience but we work as a team not as an individual and thats what makes this camp so awesome... we are sarcastic funny serious all at the right times and thats where it counts we can blow off steam and yet still be effective councilors

And it goes on and on and on and on!!

Let me just say I have never been happier than I am right now. These people make me feel so mature and alive. We joke we kid we laugh we go to far but were still close when it comes time to learn we do! we stand together and talk and we combine out knowledge into a team when some one slips up in misunderstanding a clue or an idea with the help of each other we fill in the blanks common knowledge. It really is a great bunch we stay up late watching harry potter drinking tea and swapping stories. The inside jokes keep coming. We have spent time cleaning the place. I am amazed at how much the building itself is taught to us. The different nooks and supply closets first aid kits (yes I know these are no brainers) are in this house for cleaning up accidents abd cleaning up potential problems we make sure were stocked no just for the campers but mainly for ourselves we are the one giving comfort and those our some of our tools. I literally cannot explain everything happening at this camp these past few weeks the fun the adventure I love this job so much!!!

Just a quick thought

For all those who truely want to understand where i am and what i am doing and just exactly the entire organization of Eastern Seals does please visit this website browsehttp://nh.easterseals.com/site/PageServer?pagename=NHDR_homepage this is only the website for the NH branch but the organization is in many states they are building a new site in New York. please browse, understand, enjoy, ask questions, and donate.

And So It begins

Ello from a cloudy and cold lakes region of New Hampshire. Even still with the cloudy and rain... Holy crap it is so beautiful i can only imagine what it will be like once the sun comes out!!! We walked along the lake even in the cold the mist coming off the lake i gotta bring my camera up here to show you. pics to come. Any way I sleep in the boys section of the common building with, right now, one other guy named Seb from England who just finished school is brillant at cards and has no forced me into a tasty tea addiction. We spent last night playing different card games and talking about the difference between British University and American University. The girls watched movies and occasionaly added their ideas to our conversation 3 cups of tea later we were all sitting around talking and asking questions about the training to come. Asking questions of the three veterans. We discusses our backgrounds and told stories dealing with children with special needs. Cant tell you how great it was to just sit back sip tea and listen soaking in all the lessons and information about what is still to come in the next 2 weeks.


Its now sunday and we have all had a relaxing day the group getting over jet lag lounging around and enjoying themselves tonight were having a group meal and another councilor will be arriving some time soon. Then tomorrow at 9 the lessons and learning begin and i cannot wait if the next 2 weeks are as fun as the last 2 days then it will go by so quickly.

Into 2 (before it all begins)

Its May 31, 2011 I am packing to go. I have never been camping before well, I never went to camp, over night camps that is. Hey cool another thing to add to the great things about this job, my first camp experience. Just gets better and better right. So really what does one take to camp. Those of you wondering I actually am serious I kind of went google searching for lists of things to take to camp.

Few things I left out of first entry. So we actually have 2 weeks of class, well I will call it class. Its orientation we will be instructed by nurses and other professionals who have had many years of experience dealing with the different types of learning or physical problems the may have.

Another fun fact about USM we don’t get that training until the semester before we start our internships for out masters.

So during the 2 weeks I can talk to the other counselors and ask them what things they brought with them.

Also another big thing I left out was this is the camp counselors are all international like there are four people coming from Japan and China one coming from Scotland and the rest I am not sure about but I cant wait to find out. No Germans to talk to be I will manage. So not only am I learning lots but also I am meeting people from all around the world. OH! And doing something I love!! Gonna be a great summer!

Into (before it all begins)

Its weird to say how far I have come in this life 4 years ago I got into college and although I am having to do another year of undergraduate because of transferring and making friends my first semester at USM instead of studying, I do feel like I have taken the next step. We say we want to do something like yeah I want to be a doctor, or a fireman when were younger, but we never really become certain about what we want to do until about our last year of college. Granted there are those few who are still switching majors but only a small few. I have always felt an attraction to teaching yes an attraction but I had so little experience with it I had no way of connection with it. For my parents reading this who may have just made faces, don’t worry I know what I want to do. I want to teach. I love teaching standing in front of like 25 kids and explaining an idea until they truly understand it and then testing them on it and them getting excited about getting an A and knowing everything about it, well to me there is nothing better. So here I am in love with teaching. Really my Ed classes with practical are the only classes that get me through semesters. If that’s not a sign then I don’t know what is. Again I love teaching. Yet here I am at another crossroads see I want to teach, I want to teach history but I have always been interested in special needs education. Yet we can all agree a special needs teacher should never be interested in what they do.

This brings me to the point of this blog of all this reading that I hope my friends and family will do. I have the opportunity of a lifetime. This summer I will be working at a camp for special needs kids, well kids and young adults from 13-21. But not only that I will have one on one caring for (I want to say caring for but really its making sure they have fun). So why is this so awesome because in the university that is where I intend to go to grad school and get my masters in special needs and general Ed. We dont start in classrooms working with kids with special needs until the very last semester before we graduate. Wicked way to run a school right but hey those are the rules. Any way this opportunity to manage kids will allow me to be positive that I want to teach in this area. Before I waste 2 years and a ton of money. I wish to state first and foremost that this is serious I don’t want people to see that I am writing a blog about this and them and thinking I am taking this lightly. This is something I need to do to know if I should pursue it I don’t want to enter a job half assed.

Bu that’s just the beginning it will look great on my resume, for grad school. The amount of I could make anywhere else does not compare to how much this will help my resume. This job is great in so many ways. I love working with kids, I will be working with kids with special needs giving me insight into if I really want to be a special needs teacher. Then just working with kids is awesome too something I love to do as is. Nothing bad about this job. I seriously cannot wait.

So come along take this journey with me let me know what you think words of encouragement or to those teachers out there words of advice!?