Week 2 & 3 Camp Recap–Heading to Dallas for Final Project!!

Greetings everyone!

It’s been a while but I finished my last 2 weeks of Operation Purple Camp and am now about to embark on a journey to Dallas, Texas to work with Groundwork Dallas! I honestly am not looking forward to going to Dallas because the humidity is going to be brutal. Also, working at OPC was the BEST project I have had so far. I got to go rock climbing, go horseback riding, white water rafting, I got to visit the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs and lots more. I got to work with about 40 kids ranging from 11-17 years in age and some of them I actually felt like I was able to be a good role model for them. The staff there was outstanding and even though I was logging 80-90 hour weeks and was getting exhausted, I loved every minute of it. I now feel almost 100% certain that my future career must include the aspect of working with disadvantaged teenagers in some way shape or form. (A year from now I might laugh at this post but at this juncture in my life that is what I am really feeling). Week 2 involved 12 teenage boys who decided to call themselves “The Blues Brothers”. This group had a few clicks in it and I had a kid with Aspergers that was tough to deal with but other than that it was a great group of guys. I had two boys fly from Ohio and Illinois just to come to camp and it was really cool to see them interact and fit in with all the local boys in the group. Week 3 was my most challenging week by far. My group called themselves “Mean Green Fightin’ Machine”. I had 16 boys ranging from 11-13 years old. In my group I had at least 6 boys diagnosed with ADHD or ADD and 3 of them for some reason their doctors decided they would be ‘off medication’ for the summer ( If I ran into their Doctors I’d like to give them a BIG THANK YOU!!! Totally made my life easier…ugh). I had a few boys who were dealing with homesickness, a set of brothers who wanted to kill each other, and even one boy who moved from a base in Japan where he lived for 4 years to Colorado the day before camp started. This poor boy didn’t have any friends and didn’t even know where ‘home’ was. He had stepped off a flight from Japan less than 48 hours prior to arriving at camp and was in a totally new world.  This group was the most challenging to work with, but they definitely taught me a lot. I learned that one of the kids was starting to shave and was attempting to learn how through an e-mail his father sent him from overseas. My co-counselor and I decided to set up a  5 minute shaving clinic to show the boys how to shave. It’s amazing when you realize how much these kids have to do on their own and don’t have their parents around to teach them the basics and to help them as they mature. I even had one kid who acted out a lot and then I found out his father had been deployed 8 times to Iraq, Afganistan and Kuwait. No wonder why he acts out.

Operation Purple Camp was such an amazing experience and I wish it continued success in the future.

Last Spike Travel!! Just two days of traveling, heading from Denver to Amarillo, TX (Trip #3 to Amarillo Texas) and then Amarillo to Dallas. Apparently we have a house but no stove (no furniture? and no address given to us yet so who knows what we are going to run into…) and I was looking at the weather and it’s averaging like a high of 101 and a low of 80…ugh. Anyway after working at the camp I already have my 1700 hours and my ISP hours already done so its a little tough to think that I am going on this last spike and I don’t really need to because I have all of my requirements needed for my wonderful Eli Segal Education Award.

Anyway, will update with some great information from Dallas!!! Less then a Month and a Half away from coming back home!!

As always a few pictures,

Rock Formation at Garden of the Gods

The Famous Balancing Rock at Garden of the Gods

Olympic Training Center, Colorado Springs!!

The State of the Art GYM

Cherry Cabin in Monument, CO

Camp Headquarters/Dining Hall

Andrew

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