My Summer So Far...
Jul. 7th, 2008 08:08 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bookaddict88I keep meaning to write here more often, but well, obviously I haven't. Oh well...
Anyway, my summer has been pretty good so far. The first month or so was quite relaxing. I didn't do a whole lot but read and work a little for my mom. Actually, I was starting to get antsy being home. It wasn't so much that I was bored as that as much as I love my family, I really do prefer to live on my own than at home. I rather like having the control over my own life that I don't have quite so much when I'm with my parents.
At any rate, on June 12, I got an e-mail from Forest Home asking if I would be free to be a counselor for the week starting the 15th. I'd wanted to work at the camp all summer, but because of my trip to Morocco, I ended up just being an On Call Counselor (so they'd just ask me to come in when they needed). All I really had going on the week of the 15th was a trip to San Diego with my mom, so I decided to go to Forest Home. I ended up counseling a cabin of 10 high school girls, and had a blast. I was a bit nervous before I went, since I'd never worked with high schoolers before (I mean, I graduated high school just two years ago!). But though some of the other counselors weren't so lucky, I ended up having a wonderful group. I only got paid $150 for the week (plus room and board), but I would have done it for free.
In fact, the next week I did do it for free, as I was counseling the 6th graders with my church. I went home Saturday morning, and then Sunday afternoon, I went back to Forest Home. I was at a different camp this time, the 5th and 6th grade camp, which was much more rustic. While it was a very different experience this week, I still had a blast. I had 7 fun girls in my tent, 2 of which had been in my tent the previous two years. I absolutely love Forest Home (and I really hope I get called up again sometime when I'm free this summer), so even when I have one or two problem kids I have fun, but I was really lucky in my groups of girls this year. And now, I can't decide whether I liked counseling for the high schoolers or the 6th graders better. With the high schoolers, I got to have more in-depth discussions, and I didn't have to supervise them quite as much. On the other hand, I have more fun with the elementary schoolers. But then, sometimes I think I never grew out of elementary school myself (in fact, the 6th grade girls I worked with the next week mentioned they liked me because even though I was an adult, I was like a kid). Also, while my group was great, another cabin had much more drama and problems. Personally, I prefer the drama and troubles of elementary schoolers over that of high schoolers. Overall, I really do love elementary schoolers best, but counseling for both age groups was equally great in different ways.
After Forest Home, I was back home for all of a week. Then Saturday at like 4am, I left to go to Morocco. Traveling went really smoothly, though we were all exhausted by the end (especially since I hadn't gotten any sleep Friday night). We arrived in Morocco on Sunday morning, and had to stay awake all day to try to get over jet lag. We spent the day at the school compound where we're working and living for the next two weeks, mostly preparing for school the next day. This place is absolutely beautiful. The school is about a mile away from the coast, and up on a hill so we have a wonderful view of the ocean both from our classroom and our apartment (in fact, I love going up on the roof of our apartment building, where there is a great view in all directions). I was expecting it to be quite hot here, but there is a wonderful breeze coming in from the ocean, and I haven't been hot yet.
Today was our first day of summer school. I'm the assistant teacher for the 5th/6th grade. We're teaching remedial English (which is these kids' third language, as they also speak French and their native Arabic), with our theme being The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. We have 11 kids, which was really nice, since I was expecting around 20. The day went really well (and quickly)! There were a few talkers and people who didn't really want to work, but nothing worse than that. We're spending this afternoon resting (we've already gone over the lesson plans for tomorrow), but other afternoons we'll be doing sightseeing and other such things. I'm really looking forward to the rest of this trip!
At any rate, on June 12, I got an e-mail from Forest Home asking if I would be free to be a counselor for the week starting the 15th. I'd wanted to work at the camp all summer, but because of my trip to Morocco, I ended up just being an On Call Counselor (so they'd just ask me to come in when they needed). All I really had going on the week of the 15th was a trip to San Diego with my mom, so I decided to go to Forest Home. I ended up counseling a cabin of 10 high school girls, and had a blast. I was a bit nervous before I went, since I'd never worked with high schoolers before (I mean, I graduated high school just two years ago!). But though some of the other counselors weren't so lucky, I ended up having a wonderful group. I only got paid $150 for the week (plus room and board), but I would have done it for free.
In fact, the next week I did do it for free, as I was counseling the 6th graders with my church. I went home Saturday morning, and then Sunday afternoon, I went back to Forest Home. I was at a different camp this time, the 5th and 6th grade camp, which was much more rustic. While it was a very different experience this week, I still had a blast. I had 7 fun girls in my tent, 2 of which had been in my tent the previous two years. I absolutely love Forest Home (and I really hope I get called up again sometime when I'm free this summer), so even when I have one or two problem kids I have fun, but I was really lucky in my groups of girls this year. And now, I can't decide whether I liked counseling for the high schoolers or the 6th graders better. With the high schoolers, I got to have more in-depth discussions, and I didn't have to supervise them quite as much. On the other hand, I have more fun with the elementary schoolers. But then, sometimes I think I never grew out of elementary school myself (in fact, the 6th grade girls I worked with the next week mentioned they liked me because even though I was an adult, I was like a kid). Also, while my group was great, another cabin had much more drama and problems. Personally, I prefer the drama and troubles of elementary schoolers over that of high schoolers. Overall, I really do love elementary schoolers best, but counseling for both age groups was equally great in different ways.
After Forest Home, I was back home for all of a week. Then Saturday at like 4am, I left to go to Morocco. Traveling went really smoothly, though we were all exhausted by the end (especially since I hadn't gotten any sleep Friday night). We arrived in Morocco on Sunday morning, and had to stay awake all day to try to get over jet lag. We spent the day at the school compound where we're working and living for the next two weeks, mostly preparing for school the next day. This place is absolutely beautiful. The school is about a mile away from the coast, and up on a hill so we have a wonderful view of the ocean both from our classroom and our apartment (in fact, I love going up on the roof of our apartment building, where there is a great view in all directions). I was expecting it to be quite hot here, but there is a wonderful breeze coming in from the ocean, and I haven't been hot yet.
Today was our first day of summer school. I'm the assistant teacher for the 5th/6th grade. We're teaching remedial English (which is these kids' third language, as they also speak French and their native Arabic), with our theme being The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. We have 11 kids, which was really nice, since I was expecting around 20. The day went really well (and quickly)! There were a few talkers and people who didn't really want to work, but nothing worse than that. We're spending this afternoon resting (we've already gone over the lesson plans for tomorrow), but other afternoons we'll be doing sightseeing and other such things. I'm really looking forward to the rest of this trip!
