Stop worrying.... Your first day at Camp couldn't possibly be worse than mine.

With just over a month to go until Summer Camp season and my return to beautiful Torch Lake for my second summer at Camp Hayowentha, I thought it would be fitting to put first time counsellors at ease.

I get it, I was there myself last year. You’re excited, imagining all the fun your going to have all summer. You’re nervous, picturing all the unruly children you’ll have to try and keep in line. You’re downright dreading being Spartan-kicked outside of your bubble into a world that you can’t possibly imagine before you’re already experiencing it first hand.

It’s only natural to be going though these motions. As excited as you are, the fears are always there. Doubts screaming in the back of your head...

“What if I screw up? What if the kids don’t like me? What if I lose one!? WHAT IF ONE DIES?”   
The date comes closer and closer, you’re almost vibrating with anticipation, almost throwing up from the butterflies in your stomach. Then, you can’t put it off any longer, it’s here, you get on a plane, fly to a foreign country and walk into camp. You pass staff orientation and learn as much as you can in training. Then, after all the waiting, it’s your first day on the job; here come the kids.

Now your first day can only go two ways. As much as you worried and fretted, your first day will go amazingly. You’re educational, fun and the kids love you. Or everything becomes pear-shaped, it all goes horribly wrong and reduces you to a sobbing pile of mess on the floor, which you will soon recognise as a learning opportunity and laugh about. That second one was me, but much, much worse. 

There is no way your first day could possibly be as bad as mine.

Yes, it’s true. My first day of camp goes down in history as the worst first day ever. There was fire, hospitalisation, screaming children and lots of panicked running around.

So I guess I should explain. Due to no fault of my own, I arrived a week late to Spring rotations at camp. In short that means I had 5 days less training than everyone else. Instead of a week, I had 5 hours. 5 hours! So needless to say when the kids arrived the next day, I was freaking out. I handled it though. I’m good with kids, so I just let them run themselves through their lessons.

Do I know anything about Michigan trees? Not a thing. So I let them run around guessing the names. I knew a little about animals, so I got them to play a game to simulate the food chain. It was tag, I made them play tag. So, when it came to teaching about the pilgrims, as an Australian, I was stumped. I sat them down and let them tell me what they knew, and then was a little imaginative about the ‘facts’ I gave them in return. Like did you know the buckles on the hats where for in case their other belt fell off? I was nervous! So when it came to doing all the pioneering activities, I was rattled.

First up, candle making. Get a block of wax, start a fire, put wax in tin on fire, melt wax, dip string in wax then water to make candle. Simple right? So I put the wax on the fire, and while I waited for it to melt, we made popcorn. That’s where this really goes downhill. I burnt the popcorn. I know, that’s almost impossible. So when the fire alarms started going off and I had no ones phone number, I was annoyed.

So off I went with the kids in tow to find someone in charge, to let them know that nothing was burning down. I found a more adult adult, people were called to turn off the alarm and everything was fine. We hiked back to the building to continue our lesson and that’s when I saw it. I had left the wax in the fireplace and it had caught fire. Well, caught fire might be an understatement. Fire spurted out of the top of the can like the turbine of a Fighter Jet. It was as if i had opened a gate to Hell itself. And on a YMCA campground no less. 

No problem, I tell the kids to play outside, walk in and use the tongs to take the can off the fire, and set it beside in the fire place. At this point the camp’s second in command comes walking in. He turns off the fire alarms and walks over to the Sauron's Eye of flaming cans.

After failing to stop the fire by putting a plate on top, Boss leans in and tries to grab the can and remove it with only a cloth. The tongs sit to the side unused which results in, unfortunately, his hand burning causing him to pull back, hitting the can on the edge of the fireplace as he does. Flaming wax flies everywhere, lighting everything on fire. As my Boss tries to put his arm out, I begin running around trying to find something to make sure the floor stops burning.

The floor belongs to Bonbright Lodge. Bonbright is one of the oldest building in the area, if not all of Michigan and is literally an irreplaceable part of history. Pretty sure its on the Historical Protection list. And I had set it on fire.

After finding out the building carried no fire extinguishers whatsoever, followed by lots of stamping and flailing, the fire was put out without any major damage to the building, and Simon was rushed to hospital with severe burns up his arm and hand.

Here I am, sitting at dinner, quiet while everyone chatters about the events of the day. I was there for one night and already I was sure I was going home. But no, I didn’t get fired. But Bonbright now has 3 fire extinguishers and they stopped teaching pioneering for the Spring. My Boss was ok (minus some scarring) and everyone was forgiven.

The large burnt part of the floor is now part of the orientation tour. I made my mark on camp in my first day! Who else can say that?

So there you have it. My story of the worst first day ever. It’s true, no one died, so I guess it technically could have been worse, but I digress.

The point of my story isn’t to scare you. There is 0% chance that your first day will be that bad. The point of my story is that after a first day like this, I went on to have the best summer of my life. And not only that, but actually get asked back for a second year (and a third). I nearly burnt a building down and sent someone to hospital and they wanted me back.

So stop fearing your first day of camp, what’s the worst that could happen?

So if you're feeling brave enough check out Camp America here and get started on the process. You'll be over having the best summer of your life in no time!

If you want to check out Hayo-Went-Ha, my camp, go here!