Week 2 - Shane Perkey - Camp Kentahten

I have learned that a lot of the counselors here are not religious. It is probably because most of them aren't from around here (just like me). On top of that, Cricket, the program manager, has given numerous reasons why our camp is not affiliated with religion. Caz, the General Manager, has eluded to this as well. Camp Kentahten is CHILD CENTERED and doesn't put conditions upon who it serves. Each Tim Horton's store in Canada and the US selects two children to send to camp. Most of these children are impoverished and cannot afford camp. Tim Horton's stores use donations and a percentage of their sales to send these children to camp. The focus is children, not christian children. Even the camp songs are prohibited from using religious words or phrases. This enables the camp to accommodate a much larger range of individuals. They focus on making better human beings where "kids can discover their greatest" rather than spreading a faith like other camps and mission trips. The Tim Horton's Children Foundation is the greatest Foundation I have ever heard of, but of course that is my opinion.
I have been retaining two personal attributes thus far from camp. Camp staff as a whole is 5 minutes early to everything. I am a big fan of this and it is making me feel better about my day. The other attribute is "golden mop". Golden mop is when our assistant nurse goes through the bunkhouse with a checklist to see who has followed the directions of keeping their living quarters clean. There are multiple winners each day and I have been among this list every day thus far. The great thing about Golden Mop is that it is made to be fun and exciting with songs and things. It isn't a mandate and something passed down through vertical management. Everyone is involved in golden mop, and it is actually fun. I take pride in being organized and I appreciate the horizontal management. It is a nice reprieve from the classroom.
I have learned SO many camp songs since I have been here. They are so positive and uplifting, it is quite amazing. I am having trouble keeping track of all of them (including the body language) but I will master them all. When you think you can do anything, you can literally do anything.
I received my camp nickname today. Everyone calls me Bruin now. Andrew (8ball) and Kary (2step) still call me Coach now and again, but it's nice to fit in by having a nickname like everyone else. I don't watch hockey, but I took a vested interest in seeing the Boston Bruins defeat the Lightning (I don't remember what city the team is from) and thus was named Bruin by a fellow female counselor named Krash. She is a snowboarder from Maine and has been at camp for a few summers already. I was the first of the new counselors to get a nickname, so that's pretty cool. I have made a lot of good impressions and I can tell that a lot of the counselors have learned as much from me as I have learned from them. Reciprocity hasn't been brought up here at camp yet, but it seems that it is one of the defining principles in which the camp functions upon. The campers still aren't here yet, but I am really excited about getting to meet them. I found out today that my co-counselor is Wolf. He reads a lot and has long black hair. We have the group B3, which is mainly 9-10 year olds. He is great with the kids by everyone else's estimation and I can see why. He is a friendly guy and has great intentions. Everyone here is great. Overall, everything is going great and I have a plan for what I am going to do to improve the camp so I can satisfy the internship requirements. I am excited about doing the project for Cricket, he is a great leader. Camp is good, all the time! All the time, Camp is good!