Imparting the lessons from an educational summer

As another summer at Lawrence Woodmere Academy Summer Day Camp drew to a close, I found myself taken aback by how much I have learned. Through every memory I have made this summer, a lesson came along with it. I’m certain that I will carry all these lessons with me for the rest of my life.

1. Don’t take yourself too seriously, it’s more than necessary sometimes to act like a child.

Being a camp counselor comes with a huge amount of responsibility and sometimes I, along with many other counselors, forget that it’s more than OK to have fun also. We should sing our hearts out when we hear our favorite pop song, we should jump off the diving boards and have splash fights with the campers in the pool, and most importantly we should remember how much freedom comes with feeling like an 8-year-old again.

2. There is absolutely nothing better than knowing you helped a child.

So, I took her aside, motivated her as much as I could, and told her that at the end of the day all that matters is that she has fun. She took what I said to heart and gave it her all and the white team ended up winning that round. Afterwards, she ran up to me and told me she kept thinking about what I told her while she was pulling the rope and how much my words helped her. In that moment I knew being lieutenant wasn’t about how many games we could win, it was about making a child’s Color War experience more enjoyable. What matters in the end is seeing their smiling faces and knowing you helped make that happen.

3. Stepping outside your comfort zone can be a very great thing.

I have never been good at sports. No matter what it was, something about athletics and me did not click. However, this summer something changed for me when it came to sports. I continuously pushed myself to take part and become involved.

One time, we were playing a camp-wide soccer game and it was my turn to kick a penalty shot in, and I knew the entire camp would be watching. I was so worried about going and didn’t want to disappoint my campers who were all shouting and cheering for me. Finally, I kicked the ball and somehow ended up scoring. The whole crowd went wild and that is when I realized there was no reason for me to worry.

Even if I didn’t make the shot, what was important was that I tried my best at something I knew I would never be the best at. Camp is the greatest place to try new things and not stress about how good you are at them.

There were so many amazing aspects to being an assistant counselor this summer. For anyone wondering if they should try it, please do. Take it from me, the lessons you will learn and the bonds you will form are like no other. I will be eternally grateful for everything I got experience at Lawrence Woodmere Academy this summer.

Brailovskiy’s group was children going into second grade. The group’s name was the Canaries. She is a North Woodmere resident and a senior at Hewlett High School. This is the second of two parts.