Journal #2: 30 hours, 6 per Day for 5 Days

Camp Galileo Week 1

The initial fear of kids – although I chose this internship because it was with kids – subsided as soon as the kids got comfortable with me the second day. Throughout this week, I used the peanut free table at lunch to sit and get to know some of the kids. Sometimes I think it’s weird how I have to dull and simplify my talk to be able to communicate with the kids but this table was different. In fact a lot of campers at Galileo are much more intelligent than you would think they were. As the week progressed with the peanut free kids, I went from simple talk like, “how’s your food” or “ what is your favorite color” to riddles, jokes, and actual talk about random subjects. I almost forgot our age difference, the little campers were eager as they asked for more after solving my diminishing list of riddles. I was also positioned to set up all the hot lunches this week so I got to know everyone’s names pretty well. Emma, my coworker for hot lunches, and I double checked and triple checked all the lunches for each camper. This was tedious but we had to make sure they got what they wanted otherwise, they wouldn’t eat and that’s not exactly the best for a day packed with activities. Overall this week, I have gained comfort with kids and my co-workers. I hope in the following week I am not only comfortable but will create a system in which I interact with kids and co-workers. Normally I have a good sense of who someone is and have a go-to attitude and topic, but I am still currently developing that with these new people.