Summertime Service

This summer I was a camp counselor for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. It was physically and mentally exhausting but the most rewarding week of my 20 years. I held a volunteer position as a counselor, whose job is to match up with one camper, aged 6-17, for an entirety of the week. A lot of these children have lost the ability to use their extremities and cannot perform the way muscles would work on their own. The counselors role was to provide complete assistance as many of these children have a difficult time walking if they are not already confined to a wheel chair.

My camper was ambulatory so my job mainly was to be there to support her throughout the week, encourage her fun, and to make sure she took as much experience from camp as possible. Along with my camper there were also two other campers in my room who relied on us to help them into and out of bed, give them showers, change their clothes, and help them use the restroom.

My favorite thing about this project was seeing how happy all of these kids were that for one week they didn’t have to worry that people were looking down on them because of their disease. They really appreciated us being there and we all loved making them happy. My camper said being at camp is her favorite week of the year because she felt like a normal kid. It is now my favorite week too because seeing these kids feel happy with no inhibitions surrounding themselves warms my heart in a way I cannot put on paper.

During one week I learned that we take life for granted. I learned that it does not take much to make people happy but when you humble yourself by giving your time and effort completely to another it makes a world of difference. The whole meaning of service is to help another person just because it’s the right thing to do. It is the most rewarding life experience you will have.

Edited by: Megan Burpo