Camp! I truly believe that Camp is one of the best weeks of the year! I put it up there with Christmas Morning, and my birthday when it comes to things I look forward to. This year was no exception! The added bonus as an intern is knowing all the behind the scene details of what it takes to make camp so magical. And the magical fairy dust turns out to be a lot of paperwork and organization. The Morning of registration was a completely new experience for me. When I was a camper in Tennessee 4-H, I was the only kid from my county to go to camp, so I rode with my mom to camp and didn't have to worry about registration, and as a teen, I always drove separately from my county and met them at camp. No big deal, we had weeks of preparation up our sleeves, so everything went smoothly. Everyone arrived at camp in high spirits, but unfortunately, the weather did not want to cooperate; it rained the entire day. Camp still goes on, just with adjustments.
The last evening of camp, we had out talent show. All the teams performed, then the teens, adults, and finally, the extension agents. Heather (Floyd) and Caryn (Lawrence) had a fantastic medley of songs from bands in the 90's and early 00's. Everyone was laughing and singing along until Caryn hit the ground. I was sitting close to the front, and the first thing I hear from Caryn is "Entertain the kids." Almost instantly some teens and I were up and telling the kids to face the other direction to sing camps songs while other adults rushed to Caryn's side. It was utterly terrifying for most everyone, but again, Camp must go on. Caryn was rushed to the hospital and didn't come back until late that night, where we learned that she had a broken elbow, and torn ligaments in her knee. This was Thursday. In 24 hours, Caryn and I were supposed to go back to Feltner for Cloverbud camp. Obviously, Caryn was out of commission, which left me in charge of two teens, 5 campers, and two adult volunteers.
I'm not going to lie, I was sick to my stomach at the first thought of having to step up like that. I didn't have Caryn right there to look too for advice or to make sure I was making the right call. I calmed down pretty quickly and started to mentally prepare for what Cloverbud Camp would have in store for me. Luckily Cloverbud is a much smaller group of kids (literally) and much more laid back than a regular camp week. The only scary part I had to deal with was when a camper from another county told me about abuse in her household and I had to handle that situation with child protective services and more paperwork.
With Caryn out of commission, I thought I would panic. However, that has not been the case at all. She has trusted me to lead activities on my own all summer, and now is no different. I am so grateful that she put me in charge of all the day camps in the county, because now I know the kids and have no problem leading poultry and avian trainings for state fair, or helping with ham speeches and cleanings. Obviously I am no where close to being able to fill Caryn's shoes, but I know I don't have to. I have my own shoes and place in this office, and I do what I can.
So you know how the general motif of an intern's life is to expect the unexpected and just be ready to jump into gear when necessary? Well, that is the honest to goodness truth. I mean, you never know when your agent is going to break their arm and tear ligaments in their knee dancing at camp and be out of the office for weeks leading up to the county and state fair. Life happens.
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