I feel like since camp is over I should write some incredibly poignant entry about what an amazing experience I had but truthfully I don't think I can. I wouldn't be doing this summer justice by writing about how wonderful it is there, how much I've changed, etc, etc. Honestly, it was a tough summer. There were times I was so frustrated and exhausted and just wanted to sleep; I was pushed in ways I didn't know I could and did things I never thought I would ever do. But I wouldn't change a bit of it. I came to understand that our campers are more than just campers- they are colleagues, equals, friends. I worked with people this summer with such joy for the world, such hope that I couldn't help but feel happy even with very little sleep. One of my friends told me that he learned that they are not people to pity and they aren't. They are individuals who deserve love and compassion and respect just as much as the next person and one should never doubt their abilities. Camp focuses so much on abilities but reminds us that we all have our own disabilities. I wish I knew how to sum up this summer adequately but I don't think my words would do enough. I learned this summer what it means to be truly selfless and to put others before you and how liberating that can be. Spearhead claims that it is more than just a camp and it really is; it permeates your life and brings you to people who can show you more about yourself and others that you would have ever thought. I hope some day each of you can find an experience like camp but until then enjoy these:
My favorite camper/counselor quotes:
- Love me tender, love me sweet, I like you, You like me....
- Miss Allison that's a rat!
- Hottie boy at 10 o'clock
- My precious cutie pie
- That's culture!
- WENIS!
- Snickers bar!
- Boobies.
- I'm having a magical time!
- Bon qui qui
- It's the climb....
- ALICE!!!!
- I love everybody.
- Those weren't real clowns.
- You're my princess.
-Let's dance up some fun!
- Can we listen to Wicked!?!?!
- Ice cream and cakey cake
- I would want to be a merperson with you...
- We Rock!
- Am I childlike in nature?
- You know what's weird, presidents poop. (seriously ben...)
- Are you my girlfriend?
- I'm gooey, chewy chocolate.
- unnawares
- Do the wookie!!
-Man, I feel like a woman.
- I just love this place...
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Thursday, August 6, 2009
The Life Aquatic
We found Dory! 
Takin' on the Jellies- Kyle was excited
We were in awe.
Will, me, and KyleSo last weekend me and my friend Will from camp (who should totally go to Furman by the way) went to see the awesome Kyle Synder in Atlanta and we spent most of our time there at the Georgia Aquarium. I am in no way kidding. Apparently when get 3 people who are aquarium nerds you end up there for a while. Basically we walked around and saw all of the animals and read all of the information and touched some stingrays and may have ridden down the sweet whale slide. I don’t think we could have been more enthralled by it- I maybe took about 200 pictures of the fish. The Georgia Aquarium is sweet and it sort of made me miss when I used to want to be a marine biologist, or at least a dolphin trainer.
After our aquarium adventure and the necessary shopping excursion, we ended up at a bluegrass concert. A free one. You’d think this would be a bad choice but it was some of the most fun I’ve had in a while. Everyone there was so different, the bad was good, and it was pretty fun just people watching. We ended up sitting on a Pi Kapp blanket drinking white wine we brought in in a J.Crew bag. The only thing that would have made it frattier would have been a cooler. Or a bowtie. Of course we followed this with an oyster roast/clam bake in Kyle’s back yard because that? Is the natural thing to do after a free bluegrass concert. The evening closed with a viewing of Planet Earth where I promptly fell asleep. Ultimately, I think it was a near perfect weekend- the aquarium, Atlanta, good friends, good food, and lots of J.Crew. The only thing that would have made it better? If I were a dolphin trainer for real. Oh and penguins- they were seriously lacking.
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Everyday is a winding road...
Somehow camp is almost over and I have yet to figure out how it has already been 7 weeks. I’m sitting here at my dad’s mom’s house in the middle of nowhere in Virginia with very little internet access trying to convince myself that really being disconnected from the world isn’t that awful. This summer I have slowly realized that having internet constantly at your fingertips isn’t totally necessary and really, Facebook is more than a tad over-rated. Still, I find myself freaking out anytime I can actually read my email- it’s become such a special thing. Even so, it is nice to know what’s going on in the world. I really think that something massive could happen and we wouldn’t know about it; but, part of me feels that we are so wrapped up in camp world worrying about our campers that the world essentially ceases to be as important.
The past 2 weeks have been exhausting but really a lot of fun. We’ve had the older ladies for two weeks and I’ve discovered that they are perhaps some of the funniest people you will meet. I absolutely love being around them and they are usually up for taking a nap so I’m totally into that. My parents actually made it up for a talent show and I was so incredibly excited to show them what I have been doing the past 2 months. Surprisingly, my dad actually really liked it- he did get a birthday party invitation and a girlfriend so I think that he fits in pretty well. Apparently its overwhelming to see that many special people in one confined space because I have become so used it to. There are times that I think I have completely forgotten what it is like to be in a world that isn’t camp and that I may no longer be able to functioning completely in society. I’m hoping this soon comes back. But most importantly, my parents got to see why I do what I do and what a unique place Spearhead is. This week Virginia got to come and I was so happy to see her! I have gotten to see her far more this summer but it was awesome to get to show her what I’ve been doing and why I’m a total “camera whore” at camp- its true, I take a lot of pictures. It is truly exciting to get to show people you love what you are passionate about and why this population is so important and wonderful. I hope that through this blog some of you have been able to see what a wonderful place Spearhead is and how important it is to me. I wish I could share with everyone all of my pictures and stories about it because it really has been a wild ride. Somehow I went down this road in my last real summer as a college student (I’m refusing to talk about the grad school application I’ve started- its too scary) and I don’t really know where it will lead me, but I think its going somewhere good. Either way, I’ve got some great stories out of it and maybe, just maybe, cured my email addiction. Maybe not.
The past 2 weeks have been exhausting but really a lot of fun. We’ve had the older ladies for two weeks and I’ve discovered that they are perhaps some of the funniest people you will meet. I absolutely love being around them and they are usually up for taking a nap so I’m totally into that. My parents actually made it up for a talent show and I was so incredibly excited to show them what I have been doing the past 2 months. Surprisingly, my dad actually really liked it- he did get a birthday party invitation and a girlfriend so I think that he fits in pretty well. Apparently its overwhelming to see that many special people in one confined space because I have become so used it to. There are times that I think I have completely forgotten what it is like to be in a world that isn’t camp and that I may no longer be able to functioning completely in society. I’m hoping this soon comes back. But most importantly, my parents got to see why I do what I do and what a unique place Spearhead is. This week Virginia got to come and I was so happy to see her! I have gotten to see her far more this summer but it was awesome to get to show her what I’ve been doing and why I’m a total “camera whore” at camp- its true, I take a lot of pictures. It is truly exciting to get to show people you love what you are passionate about and why this population is so important and wonderful. I hope that through this blog some of you have been able to see what a wonderful place Spearhead is and how important it is to me. I wish I could share with everyone all of my pictures and stories about it because it really has been a wild ride. Somehow I went down this road in my last real summer as a college student (I’m refusing to talk about the grad school application I’ve started- its too scary) and I don’t really know where it will lead me, but I think its going somewhere good. Either way, I’ve got some great stories out of it and maybe, just maybe, cured my email addiction. Maybe not.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
summer reading...
I think you should all go read these books. No excuses.
- The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime- written from the perspective of 15 year old
with autism. It is absolutely fascinating and so enlightening about how many people with
autism think.
- Look Me in the Eye- John Elder Robinson- His memoir of growing up with Asperger's without a diagnosis. If you know anyone with Asperger's, you will love this.
- Running with Scissors- So incredible and undescribeable. Go read it and you'll know what I mean.
-Pretty in Plaid by Jen Lancaster. But first go read Bitter is the New Black, Bright Lights Big Ass, and Such a Pretty Fat. These books are laugh out loud, pee in your pants funny and are so much fun to read. So read all of them. Really.
- Riding the Bus with My Sister- a really touching story about two sisters, one with special needs and their journey together. A great read, especially if you've worked with special needs.
- The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime- written from the perspective of 15 year old
with autism. It is absolutely fascinating and so enlightening about how many people with
autism think.
- Look Me in the Eye- John Elder Robinson- His memoir of growing up with Asperger's without a diagnosis. If you know anyone with Asperger's, you will love this.
- Running with Scissors- So incredible and undescribeable. Go read it and you'll know what I mean.
-Pretty in Plaid by Jen Lancaster. But first go read Bitter is the New Black, Bright Lights Big Ass, and Such a Pretty Fat. These books are laugh out loud, pee in your pants funny and are so much fun to read. So read all of them. Really.
- Riding the Bus with My Sister- a really touching story about two sisters, one with special needs and their journey together. A great read, especially if you've worked with special needs.
Apparently I'm a slacker
I feel completely like a slacker but really I could blame my lack of updates on the fact that I dont actually have internet access during the week and I spend 90% of my weekends sleeping but I wont. So for those of you who I havent seen in a while, here's an update on my life at camp and everything in between.
The third week of camp went really well and since it was near the 4th of July we all got to go on a hot air balloon ride. Granted the balloon was tied to the ground so we didn't go too high, but it was a hot air balloon none the less. I've learned so far that the "old lady" cabin is really pretty fun, especially when they can't stand the creepy clown show and they hate it. My favorite camper from the week was definately this adorable woman named Miss Pat who totally had an attitude. She was completely ridiculous and therefore I loved her.
I got to celebrate the 4th in Nashville with the wonderful Allison Renfro! I was so incredibly excited to see her- it has been far too long! I love being reminded how wonderful and amazing my friends are. We got to go to downtown Nashville, hang out at Spa Renfro by the pool, and celebrate at the gorgeous Renfro farm. The farm is absolutely beautiful and it was so wonderful to be in a place where I could just relax and be with such wonderful friends. Oh and Caroline? We can still go to Mephis. I think the best part is that we ended the weekend by going to Barnes and Noble and going to Ben's house to read. Seriously, we're nerds.
Fourth week of camp was...interesting. We had some really fun campers but I did get smacked in the face a few times. Oh, and choked by a 60 year old. That was an experience and yes, my parents asked to see a picture of the lady who smacked me. That was comforting. Other than that, our campers have really fun so far and I have really enjoyed getting to know them as people, not people with special needs. I feel like we are all learning that really we all have disabilites and the best thing is to focus on everyone's abilities, not what they can't do.
That weekend (sorry this is such a long update...) my cousin got married and I got to go with my wonderful friend Nate. My parents had just gotten in from Vegas so I got to catch up with them and here all about their trip. They did call me from the Hoover Dam which made me uber jealous but hey, the present from Cirque Du Solei really helped :) I feel very blessed to have parents who I get along so well with and we all had so much fun at the wedding. Apparently, the Ritters can really throw a party. I got to see so many of my cousins, dance to "Shout" with my mom (if you know us, this makes perfect sense, see my sweet little cousin MC, and tear up the dance floor with Natey. I really cannot think of a more wonderful wedding weekend.
I just finished up with the 5th week of camp and now I feel like I'm on the downward slope of camp. I cannot believe that we have already have 5 weeks of camp. It feels like just yesterday we were all meeting for training and somehow we've already finished 5 weeks. I've really gotten to know so many amazing counselors and I feel like we have been bonded in so many ways. My favorite day was when a bunch of us went up to the lake at night to pray and share about our lives. I dont know if we are all realizing what this summer means for us quite yet but I know that this summer is something big. My cabin this week was fun and they wanted to do something in the talent show so I was really excited...gotta love that Camp Rock.
These campers mean so much to me and I realize that they are teaching me so much about myself- that I need to relax and go with the flow sometimes, what it means to be truly selfless, how wonderful it is to put people before yourselves and how special the little things in life are.
Well friends that's been the last 3 weeks of my life. I wish I was able to share with all of you absolutely everything about this summer so if I see you and make some crazy comment, its probably from camp and I've forgotten that I'm not there. I hope you all are having wonderful incredible summers.
So until my next chance to have internet....adios amigos.
The third week of camp went really well and since it was near the 4th of July we all got to go on a hot air balloon ride. Granted the balloon was tied to the ground so we didn't go too high, but it was a hot air balloon none the less. I've learned so far that the "old lady" cabin is really pretty fun, especially when they can't stand the creepy clown show and they hate it. My favorite camper from the week was definately this adorable woman named Miss Pat who totally had an attitude. She was completely ridiculous and therefore I loved her.
I got to celebrate the 4th in Nashville with the wonderful Allison Renfro! I was so incredibly excited to see her- it has been far too long! I love being reminded how wonderful and amazing my friends are. We got to go to downtown Nashville, hang out at Spa Renfro by the pool, and celebrate at the gorgeous Renfro farm. The farm is absolutely beautiful and it was so wonderful to be in a place where I could just relax and be with such wonderful friends. Oh and Caroline? We can still go to Mephis. I think the best part is that we ended the weekend by going to Barnes and Noble and going to Ben's house to read. Seriously, we're nerds.
Fourth week of camp was...interesting. We had some really fun campers but I did get smacked in the face a few times. Oh, and choked by a 60 year old. That was an experience and yes, my parents asked to see a picture of the lady who smacked me. That was comforting. Other than that, our campers have really fun so far and I have really enjoyed getting to know them as people, not people with special needs. I feel like we are all learning that really we all have disabilites and the best thing is to focus on everyone's abilities, not what they can't do.
That weekend (sorry this is such a long update...) my cousin got married and I got to go with my wonderful friend Nate. My parents had just gotten in from Vegas so I got to catch up with them and here all about their trip. They did call me from the Hoover Dam which made me uber jealous but hey, the present from Cirque Du Solei really helped :) I feel very blessed to have parents who I get along so well with and we all had so much fun at the wedding. Apparently, the Ritters can really throw a party. I got to see so many of my cousins, dance to "Shout" with my mom (if you know us, this makes perfect sense, see my sweet little cousin MC, and tear up the dance floor with Natey. I really cannot think of a more wonderful wedding weekend.
I just finished up with the 5th week of camp and now I feel like I'm on the downward slope of camp. I cannot believe that we have already have 5 weeks of camp. It feels like just yesterday we were all meeting for training and somehow we've already finished 5 weeks. I've really gotten to know so many amazing counselors and I feel like we have been bonded in so many ways. My favorite day was when a bunch of us went up to the lake at night to pray and share about our lives. I dont know if we are all realizing what this summer means for us quite yet but I know that this summer is something big. My cabin this week was fun and they wanted to do something in the talent show so I was really excited...gotta love that Camp Rock.
These campers mean so much to me and I realize that they are teaching me so much about myself- that I need to relax and go with the flow sometimes, what it means to be truly selfless, how wonderful it is to put people before yourselves and how special the little things in life are.
Well friends that's been the last 3 weeks of my life. I wish I was able to share with all of you absolutely everything about this summer so if I see you and make some crazy comment, its probably from camp and I've forgotten that I'm not there. I hope you all are having wonderful incredible summers.
So until my next chance to have internet....adios amigos.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Today's the day....
that Virginia is finally 21! Hooray for celebrating at the only bar in town that is not completely sketchy! I can't imagine going there with anyone else but you. Its been a crazy 7 years (wow that makes me feel old) but through it all you are there to laugh, cry, vent, or drool over Zac Efron with. You are the Nemo to my Dory, the Flounder to my Ariel, the Eve to my Wall-E. So happy birthday love and many many more!
Hottie Boy at 10 o'clock
I probably should have counted how many times I heard that phrase uttered in Cabin 12 this week but I doubt I can actually count that high. To say that they were boy crazy is putting it lightly; every boy was a hottie and no one was immune from their obsession. The good news? I'm sure all of the boys at camp have increased self-esteem and according to my campers, Matt and I are perfect for each other and will be getting married in a double cermony with Rodney and Shelby. So that's how my week went...absolutely ridiculous things that my campers say that never cease to amaze me and make me smile. I did, however, how annoying it is to be sick at camp and feel awful; but I certainly felt much better knowing that one of my sweet campers prayed for me to feel better at lunch. I feel like there are so many things that I am learning at camp, about my campers, about myself. Rarely would you ever meet a group of people so loving and unconditionally accepting as you will at camp. Their love and devotion is inspiring and truly I must say I feel blessed to have met some of my campers. I think my favorite part is the sense of pride I feel when the complete somehting they didn't think they could or how proud they are after the talent show. The past 2 weeks have already been a whirlwind that I don't think I could adequately describe to someone who hasn't been there. But as much fun as it is, I'm not quite sure I have ever treasured the hours from 1 to 3 as much as I do now. Either I get some much needed rest or I go to Starbucks or Leopard Forrest to check my email like an addict. Or I find out all at the same time that Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, and Michael Jackson all died. Seriously, talk about shock. Oh and the governor of SC? He totally went missing but was really in Argentina with his mistress. Really??? Apparently a lot can happen in a few days without connection to, oh say, any form of communication. Now I feel like I need to catch up on a weeks worth of Perez Hilton posts which is a lot. Sure I could just ask someone but I needed a dose of biting humor (I did like that one of campers finally caught onto the sarcasm I constantly spew- I liked that one a lot.) I guess I must need some sort of flow of information to keep me connected to the world but I am learning that certain things just aren't necessary to check all the time. Example, I no longer excessively stalk people on facebook. Certain people occasionally but the mass stalking that news feed enabled has been squashed. Progress I say. But still I refused to believe any of the news until I read it somewhere because I am sort of incredibly gullible. Alas, so much had happened in my 2nd week of camp that I am still processing it. I keep feeling like there are stories to share but then I am reminded how exhausted I am so I stop thinking. I'm sure at some point there will be many stories but until then enjoy a list of some of the funny, albeit not always socially acceptable quotes and notes from the week.
- One of my campers thinking she was a cat. I wish I could say this was made up but its true.
- A Barefoot Contessa obsessed camper who will sometimes talk to Ina herself.
- Our pet butterfly we kept in a box with holes in it. I have no idea how it actually lived 3 days. Resilient little bugger.
- One camper telling me that both of my bosses were hotties. To their faces. Awkward.
- Being told I was a radically cool friend because of my love of the Little Mermaid.
- He then told me I would be the one person he would choose to be a merperson with.
- It's culture!
- Fantasia 2000 with a little Toy Story thrown in
- Anything ever said by Paul Benton. I quote him often.
- The enormous spider we found on a campers bed. I was in no way calm.
- Escaping to Starbucks at any chance.
- Seeing my favorite professor at L.F.- it felt like the real world finally.
- Being smothered in the pool by Henry and Joel.
Now I'm going to go a take a shower...without shoes! And get into a bed without the fear of bugs! Little victories I say.
- One of my campers thinking she was a cat. I wish I could say this was made up but its true.
- A Barefoot Contessa obsessed camper who will sometimes talk to Ina herself.
- Our pet butterfly we kept in a box with holes in it. I have no idea how it actually lived 3 days. Resilient little bugger.
- One camper telling me that both of my bosses were hotties. To their faces. Awkward.
- Being told I was a radically cool friend because of my love of the Little Mermaid.
- He then told me I would be the one person he would choose to be a merperson with.
- It's culture!
- Fantasia 2000 with a little Toy Story thrown in
- Anything ever said by Paul Benton. I quote him often.
- The enormous spider we found on a campers bed. I was in no way calm.
- Escaping to Starbucks at any chance.
- Seeing my favorite professor at L.F.- it felt like the real world finally.
- Being smothered in the pool by Henry and Joel.
Now I'm going to go a take a shower...without shoes! And get into a bed without the fear of bugs! Little victories I say.
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