The friendly type

This is the fourth season that I have spent part or all of my summer (which has now arbitrarily been defined as May-August) working at Camp Evergreen. I love it here! As a camper I attended for eight summers, and had the best time trying new things, being away from home, and making new friends.

As a staff member I have been less excited to try new things, be away from home, and make new friends - especially to make new friends. Every year the staff team is different. There's a different dynamic to fit into and to understand. It's terrifying! The question of how I'll fit in with this year's team is the one that haunts me before I show up at camp in the beginning of May.

Of course, it's never as bad as I think it's going to be, and we all become friends quickly. Exclusive friendships always develop, and that's natural, but generally the staff are pretty good at bonding as a group and becoming a community. It's fantastic!

This year hasn't been any different. The twenty-odd staff have established a great sense of community that extends to each person. Each person has a different set of talents to lend to this team.

This year's team is fairly imbalanced, with about four times as many girls. Anywhere else, this might be the recipe for a summer of drama, petty arguments, and general cattiness. Nothing like that has happened here, thankfully! It's still early, of course, but so far all seems to be going well.

I'm especially thankful, in particular, for my new friend Liz! I was psyched to read my name among the shout-outs in her blog today. Thanks Liz! Making friends with you was jumping into the deep end for me - you might have guessed that I NEVER make the first move when it comes to making friends. I ALWAYS wait for people to talk to me first. I'm happy that we're alike, and I would like to make music with you before I leave, and I wish I could stay longer and that we could be friends in the outside world as well.

Making new friends. Not so scary.