I made a difference in the life of some campers while “leading a team” at Hope Valley Day Camp. For two summers, I was a team leader (counselor) at Hope Valley Day Camp. This means that I was responsible for groups of kids aged 6-12 all day while they were at camp. The opportunity to be a counselor at a camp is unique: it’s almost like stepping in as a parent for these kids.

Regardless of what their upbringing was or who their parents are, “Kibbles” (my camp name) was a form of temporary replacement parent for them during the couple of weeks that they attended camp. Not a parent in every sense of the word, obviously, but a parent in that I corrected their wrong behaviour, I taught them my way of thinking, and they were to abide by not only the camp’s rules, but also by my rules while they were there (and mostly did).

It was crazy to me at first that these kids would look up so much to a skinny teenager who called himself Kibbles, but counselors become role models for the campers, and as I just operated day-to-day quite normally (albeit on my best bahaviour), I found campers imitating me. The values I unwittingly impressed upon them and the example I set for them made a difference, whether great or small, in their lives. I’ve been told by former campers that I served as a role model for them, and it’s a humbling experience, but a great opportunity for making change happen.