Summer 2013 | To be honest, I didn’t feel prepared at all for the task at hand – being in charge of 10 elementary school kids during the summer at a camp located in the middle of a park. I did not feel comfortable communicating with adult-type people (counselors as well as parents of campers), and I certainly did not know how to teach kids about different plants in nature and how adaptation works. After two full days of training and my first week of volunteering at the camp, I had familiarized myself with the work that I needed to do. Every new week presented itself with a new challenge – whether it be a group of mostly boys who only wanted to participate in stick fights, or a group with a girl feeling shunned from the activities. With every new challenge, I found myself learning more about myself and how to fulfill the requirements of an AC in various situations. |
Five summers, 15 weeks of volunteering, and many counselors later, I finally found enough confidence in myself to call myself a leader. Now, I am more outspoken, open-minded, prepared, and dependable. I have become a risk-taker, willing to put myself through many more challenging situations. Recently, the coordinator of the program wrote an article in the newsletter that is published quarterly highlighting the first ever AC of the year, surprisingly, me.
I started out as a scared 14 year old girl, not knowing that four years later I would, shockingly, be an inspiration for others to also participate in the volunteering program that I love. In that moment, when I read the article, I realized how much I had changed and that so many people at that camp valued my skills as a leader. The Coral five years ago would not believe all the things I have done over the past years - I started an Asian Heritage Club at my high school, founded and taught children's virtue classes and mentored a junior youth group. The change in my own confidence took five years and so many camp counselors that I looked up to and admired. As cheesy as it sounds – I would not be the person I am today if I had not taken that initial risk and applied. I have learned that life is pointless when I do not accept the challenges thrown at me or consider those risks that I would have never thought of taking. Now, every time I face an obstacle, I treat it like a new beginning instead of a possible ending.