A Special Gift

Written by Juliana Konrad

Working as a staff member at Camp Dakota allowed me to fully recognize the impact my leadership had on the campers, and how much this camp means to them every summer. From working at camp, I believe I have grown personally in my leadership skills, as well as my ability to work as a team.With so many different leaders from different backgrounds, sometimes it was a struggle to find common ground and be able to agree on plans. However, I think the team quickly learnt how to best work with one another, and act professionally towards each other, which I think also helped me mature as a person. One thing I was shocked by working at the camp was realizing how many people came from low income houses, and how little some of the children had. This just made me realize how important Camp Dakota is, as it is not only a gift to parents who can't afford to stay home with their kids, as well as to the children who have so much fun at camp and all the activities we plan that they can't do on at home.

One experience that I will always remember is how at the end of summer one camper, Samaya, drew some of the leaders pictures and wrote us heartfelt notes. Throughout the summer, Samaya and I got along really well, and she loved making string bracelets and gimp with me. I remember teaching her how to do so many types of string bracelets, and she would always get so excited when she got the hang of them and finished a bracelet. She also loved to play cards, and we spent lots of time at the end of the day hanging out and playing cards with others. I did not realize how much my friendship and leadership had truly impacted her until the very end of camp.

On the last day, she gave me a piece of paper with my camp name, Simba, drawn on, as well as pictures of the two of us and lots of little hearts. She had written a note on it saying how much she loved me as a leader, how much she had enjoyed camp this summer because of me, and that she was going to miss me. It wasn't until this point that I realized how much of an impact the staff have on the campers, and how much they value our friendships. It was so heartfelt, and I could tell she had put so much time and effort into drawing it out. I currently have the picture hanging up on my bulletin board, and whenever I look at it, it makes me smile.

This experience made camp so worthwhile, and it was so rewarding knowing I truly made an impact on the campers over the course of the summer.