Senior: 13-14 year old girls, the second oldest age group on camp and full of life. Literally.
In my two years of being a general counselor I had Seniors 3 out of 4 terms and it was incredible.
These girls will have you on your toes from sun-up and past sundown, seriously. They have such a deep love for camp, their friends, and tribes. To be surrounded by their energy everyday for a month is magical and exhausting all at once.
When I was first given Seniors, I was terrified. What do 13 year old girls like to do these days? How do I communicate with them? Will they think I’m cool? How do I get them to respect me? How do I gain their trust? What are their interests?
Tepee Night, Senior Style!
Honestly, every single one of those questions ran through my mind at least 100 times each. But as soon as they walked into that cabin…life changed and every worry or fretting thought I had went away.
They want to know about your life. What being an adult is like. How you handled certain situations at their age. How you survived being a teenager, and all your stories. They look up to you more than you will ever possibly understand and vice versa.
After spending 3 months of my life living with 10-12 thirteen and fourteen year old girls, I couldn’t think of anything more eye-opening and wonderful.
They are huge role models on camp and the younger girls adore them. They carry a massive responsibility around camp and do it gracefully. From leadership roles in tribes, being on War Canoe, being an older age division, and having been campers for several terms, Seniors understand how camp runs and they do not take their roles as leaders lightly.
Seniors want the younger campers to look up to them, they want to have respect because they are in that age where they aren’t the ‘little girls’ on camp anymore. They’ve done their time, now it’s time for them to come into their own.
Being a Senior, they are caught in the crossfire of ‘we still have a couple more years’ and ‘we don’t have as long as we thought’. They begin to push themselves more out of their comfort zones and go after more opportunities. Not only are they trying to discover their camp-selves they are starting to figure out who they really are.
Senior Ice Cream at Jane’s!
Trust me, there will be tears of joy, frustration, anger, confusion, laughter, and every emotion known to man coming at them and they just need you to be there. They are going from little girls to young women right before your eyes and it’s special to not only watch but be a part of, even if it is for a short month.
So if you ask me, being a counselor in a Senior cabin is rewarding, scary, magical, wonderful, daunting, emotional, exhilarating, and the best thing that could happen to you.
Those sweet girls will forever and always be my “children” and I will always and forever be their “mom”.
Quite frankly, nothing makes me prouder than being a Senior cabin counselor. <3
Love,
Fallon
About the Author
