in thoughts...
Monday, July 14, 2003
Back to reality... again...
I'm back from camp... I mean, I've been back from camp since Friday night, but can you believe it? I actually managed to stay off my laptop for 3 entire days! I hardly even thought about going online, cos of all the things I had to do after the camp: give tuition, meet friends, SLEEP.... hahah... that one was important... I haven't slept so well in quite a while... it was those type of sleep that makes me totally unaware that I'm alive and actually exist in this world until the moment I wake up... hahah.... I'm such a pig...
As I, The Worry Wart, have mentioned before, most of the things I worry about turn out all right... I was an ok nanny, not terrific but HEY, it's my first time.... I was telling my campers that I still feel like a freshman myself, but I have to act as if I really know what to do in all situations... hahah... of course I only told them this on the last day... think they might have freaked out if I said that on first day of camp.... and i dun think many, if any, camper played me out by not coming... ;) yay! so happy! I had some interesting campers, some shy some not... but I had fun having fun... that sounds absurd as a sentence, but it's true...
Now I'm back in reality... Camps dun seem real to me... they're like escapes into fun for me... of course some camps are less fun than I expected... but this round was great... reminded me of the Absolut camp I had end of the year 2002... that's when I started to know some great people in campus... ;) that was the real start of friends-making that I had since university life started...
Felt really emotional after this camp... There's quite a long story behind all these emotions that i feel... During the holidays before the start of university life, freshmen usually join camps to get to know people, and that's what I did... what was unusual for me was that I didn't feel the bond between myself and my other group members, nor any attachment or desire to want to join the society hosting the camp... I joined 2 camps, and looking back on them, i haven't maintained much of the friendships made there... thinking it might be useful to join a society that caters to the students wanting to major in psychology, which is what i'm interested in, I joined this society called SWAPS, which also caters to social work students... going to the Annual General Meeting, I realised i was one of the only two students who had come for the meeting but had not joined the camp SWAPS had organised... I felt a little separated from the rest of the students at that point, but made up my mind that I really wanted to make some friends who were here to stay...
I pulled a primary school friend of mine into the society, but we joined different sub coms - I joined publicity while she signed up for welfare... but eventually she was busy with her other activities, while I tried to integrate into the SWAPS family... and I must say the people here really made me feel welcome... yet I could feel the distance between us, because I did not go through what they went through together during the camp as a group... Giving camps one last chance, I joined Absolut 2002 and got to know some people who I'll want to be friends with till I'm old and rocking on my chair... Encouraged by the warmth of that camp, I joined the organising committee for this year's freshmen camp... I haven't looked back since then... No regrets...
End of the camp, SWAPS Transcend 2003 that day, we had a ribbon cutting ceremony. Each person holds a piece of ribbon, tying it to the piece of ribbon the next person holds, so that eventually we have a circle made up of tied ribbons. As we tie the ribbon, we say what we expected of the camp, and what we've taken away from the experience... I cried... because I felt that the regret of not joining the camp last year, has somewhat been reduced by the joy and fun I've had during this camp....
As I, The Worry Wart, have mentioned before, most of the things I worry about turn out all right... I was an ok nanny, not terrific but HEY, it's my first time.... I was telling my campers that I still feel like a freshman myself, but I have to act as if I really know what to do in all situations... hahah... of course I only told them this on the last day... think they might have freaked out if I said that on first day of camp.... and i dun think many, if any, camper played me out by not coming... ;) yay! so happy! I had some interesting campers, some shy some not... but I had fun having fun... that sounds absurd as a sentence, but it's true...
Now I'm back in reality... Camps dun seem real to me... they're like escapes into fun for me... of course some camps are less fun than I expected... but this round was great... reminded me of the Absolut camp I had end of the year 2002... that's when I started to know some great people in campus... ;) that was the real start of friends-making that I had since university life started...
Felt really emotional after this camp... There's quite a long story behind all these emotions that i feel... During the holidays before the start of university life, freshmen usually join camps to get to know people, and that's what I did... what was unusual for me was that I didn't feel the bond between myself and my other group members, nor any attachment or desire to want to join the society hosting the camp... I joined 2 camps, and looking back on them, i haven't maintained much of the friendships made there... thinking it might be useful to join a society that caters to the students wanting to major in psychology, which is what i'm interested in, I joined this society called SWAPS, which also caters to social work students... going to the Annual General Meeting, I realised i was one of the only two students who had come for the meeting but had not joined the camp SWAPS had organised... I felt a little separated from the rest of the students at that point, but made up my mind that I really wanted to make some friends who were here to stay...
I pulled a primary school friend of mine into the society, but we joined different sub coms - I joined publicity while she signed up for welfare... but eventually she was busy with her other activities, while I tried to integrate into the SWAPS family... and I must say the people here really made me feel welcome... yet I could feel the distance between us, because I did not go through what they went through together during the camp as a group... Giving camps one last chance, I joined Absolut 2002 and got to know some people who I'll want to be friends with till I'm old and rocking on my chair... Encouraged by the warmth of that camp, I joined the organising committee for this year's freshmen camp... I haven't looked back since then... No regrets...
End of the camp, SWAPS Transcend 2003 that day, we had a ribbon cutting ceremony. Each person holds a piece of ribbon, tying it to the piece of ribbon the next person holds, so that eventually we have a circle made up of tied ribbons. As we tie the ribbon, we say what we expected of the camp, and what we've taken away from the experience... I cried... because I felt that the regret of not joining the camp last year, has somewhat been reduced by the joy and fun I've had during this camp....
posted by Sodium-squared at 7/14/2003 01:23:00 PM
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