After three weeks of staff training and a relaxing couple of days off, Session One officially begins  kicking off the start of our summer camp. We're all pretty excited that the kids arrive tomorrow. All of the staff is divided up into cabins which are created by gender and age group. I’m in the Bear Cabin which is the 15-16 year old girls. Josh is in the Beaver Cabin which is the 15-16 year old boys. So we’re both with the oldest kids at camp, and then we switch cabins half way through the summer. I started out my last two summers as a Bear and I’m happy to keep up the tradition since I really enjoy being with the older girls.

I’m working with 8 other girls in the Bear Cabin and I’m truly looking forward to experiencing camp with each one of them as we sing and dance at campfires, plan and rehearse our talent show acts, watch The Dive Show at Great Escape and ride The Blizzard, play board games and paint nails in our Getaway room, and spend our days with campers who will inspire, invigorate, and challenge us. When I’m in the Bear Cabin, the girliest themes and movies seem to invade my mind like The Babysitters Club, Ramona and Beezus, Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants and other movies and book series that are surely out of date to the campers coming.

Soon I’ll be spending my day in the barn facilitating the petting program with the rabbits and guinea pigs, and hosting ridiculous Free Choice activities like fashion shows and guinea pig races. I’ll be with the rest of the barn girls as we listen to our country music, wear our jeans and t-shirts (and cowboy boots for some of us) and enter into the dining hall together smelling like animal, hay and manure as we charge to the salad bar. It’ll be good times. It always is.