My STEP Signature Project provided me with the resources I needed to successfully complete my major-required, field-related Internship, where I worked as a Nature Camp Counselor with Sunbury Urban Farm. Here I spent ~45 hours a week outdoors working to cultivate youth relations with the natural world, sustainability, and the food we grow to eat. I was responsible for supervising, leading, and engaging with about 10-15 kids each week with the assistance of an adolescent junior counselor. I would facilitate pre-planned programs throughout each day, as well as be responsible for planning & facilitating a daily 1-hour program block in alignment with organization goals and the theme of that week. I maintained camp organization along with the rest of the counselor staff and often completed irregular tasks such as the application of glyphosate foliar spray to get rid of poison ivy and building + filling soil beds.
Before this position, I had never thought of myself as a leader, nor capable of facilitating anything on my own. I felt comforted by the fact that I would be working with a co-counselor, but I was pleasantly surprised by this half-truth. I have always felt like an imposter in settings that demand accountability at others’ expense. I know that I am an intelligent person with a lot to offer, but I have always avoided situations that depend on my display of that. This job offered me an in to the natural resource’s interpretative world, as I lack a lot of the hands-on experience my peers do, however, I found that in this position I was one of the more knowledgeable assets regarding environmental science and the natural world, as well as in educating with kids which is not something I’ve had prior experience in. In my very first two weeks, after training, I was assigned the oldest age group…this meant I was to be one of two on the staff (out of ~40) to be facilitating camp programs by myself. The oldest age group only had 10 kids, but you are the sole counselor for these kids who are old enough to tell when you don’t know what’s going on. This forced me to throw myself into it, when historically I would have chosen to play the role of assisting counsel, the safe option, rather than believing I had what it took to coordinate the team and lead the programs.
Quickly, I found myself to be very successful in this role, and I was worried it would be fleeting, that I had beginner’s luck, but I chose to continue to believe in myself and threw the insecurities out the window. I got used to doing all the activities and planning by myself but was recognized for having great relations with the youngest kids as I came into contact with other groups throughout those first two weeks of camp. This was the more difficult age group and had 2-4 counselors typically, with ~12 five to seven year olds. I maintained an open mind, and was given this role consistently throughout the summer, but was typically only given 1 or 2 junior counselors, which were 15-year-olds that also required my guidance. This challenge was frustrating and rewarding as I maintained that leader-role throughout the entire summer. I became seen as a leader, a teacher for kids and coworkers, and a core part of this program. This is someone that I have always aspired to be, and it most definitely took hard work and faking confidence until it became real, however, it wouldn’t have happened the way it did without the opportunities I had in front of me, including my original assignment and the STEP Fellowship.
I mentioned quite a few events that led to my transformation in question 2, but the list goes on. For my 6th week of this position, there was an announcement made during our mid-summer training day on July 5th to the entire staff that I was the counselor chosen to lead us in the first week of FarmChef camp, a 4-week program where 10 kids ages 8-12 can learn to harvest and cook their own food, with me as their sole counselor. I was still responsible for program facilitation, and planned a 1.5-hour program at the end of each camp day, for example, we did a forest identification walk, creek clay mining, and apron decorating. This camp was more serious than regular summer camp, but I found time to make it fun for these kids and allowed them consistent free play to allow their minds and bodies breaks while ensuring group safety and hygiene while we played or cooked. It was an honor to be seen as capable of managing such a large task, and one that no one had any prior experience or preparation in. Normally when I find myself confronted with a task that I don’t have physical or mental preparation for, I find myself wanting to make everything perfect before it lands, leading to procrastination, and thus insecurity and hesitation. I knew there was nothing I could do but go into it with everything I had and knew with confidence until it became real. This week was successful and rewarding, and I helped children feel more confident in themselves, led them to make their own meals with the guidance of a head chef, and ensured knife & fire safety while we prepared food. The following 3 weeks I became a resource that the following FarmChef counselors utilized as I paved their way, a feeling I had never experienced before.
Although I was seen by my supervisor, coworkers, and campers as a kind and hardworking counselor, my other assets were acknowledged as well. I was what was called a floater for a total of two week during the summer, a position often utilized for counselors who need more guidance or possibly more time off. However, my experience was different, as these two separate times I had large roles around the farm. The first time, I was tasked with completing many hands-on projects around the farm. This includes, but is not limited to, planter bed construction, bed filling with compost and soil which required me to transport hundreds of pounds of material across the farm throughout the week, archway construction which required me to dig two 5-foot holes about 1 foot in diameter following by filling them with concrete around the wooden posts we sawed. I also assisted in remaking the pollinator gardens in the front of the farm, which involved uprooting one day and planting the next. I also had the chance to apply glyphosate via foliar spray to every poison ivy sprout I could locate around the farm, using my knowledge of how a vine(liana) like this lives and reproduces. I got to incorporate my schooling within this internship every single day through education and smaller hands-on actions, but this day really put my body and mind to the test. Most floaters had farm tasks to complete throughout the day, but this primarily consisted of chores and assisting groups that needed it, so I saw this extensive project completion as something to be really proud of. This also led me to start conversations with my supervisor/program director about coming back next summer as a farmer.
The second time I was a floater was much different. I was 1 of 2 counselors responsible for leading a program to every group one week. My program was Escape Rooms, and there were 2 separate games for the different age groups, still requiring me to curate each program depending on the specific group I was working with. This enhanced my knowledge of developmental levels more rapidly than counseling did, a tool I’m glad to have as an Interpretator. I was very nervous to lead this even though this job has really put my fear of public speaking to the test, due to the fact that I lead my own group each day and often have to give larger group speeches, anywhere between fire safety and bodily boundaries. What made this task more intimidating to me was the perception of every counselor working with a group that week, the repetition of doing each program several times a day, many times that week and the comparisons I would feel between them, and the difficulty of making the games fun for each person in each group. I also found through doing all of these that the counselors in each group would congregate and chat with some observation while I led the activity, which took some of the pressure off the feeling of swaying perception but added the weight of leading every single child at camp through this activity without their assistance in supervision and guided engagement. This challenge was satisfying because every single time the program would end and I would once again realize I did it and could always do it. Confidence goes a long way, but being pushed into opportunities as a result of my hard work is a blessing and a privilege. I am very grateful to have had this growing opportunity and it’s gratifying to remember that it all began with me committing to STEP and following it through. I had an original program under the Leadership category, but that program was canceled last minute due to unusual circumstances, yet it seems fated that I was led to gain leadership experience anyway.
This transformational experience is valuable to my personal growth and in my future careers in parks and recreation management, forestry, and wildlife. While working amongst the 90% native forest of Sunbury Urban Farm I was able to enhance my course-gained knowledge via application in a real-world setting both through my own cognition and through educating & conversing with others. Regularly throughout each work day, I talked about the natural observations I and others experienced. We would think through them, identify, find resources in others based on what we have learned about each other’s academic and personal experiences, and incorporate technologies like field guides and Seek. As I move through life I observe and apply my knowledge, I identify woody plants as I walk to my classes and take time to observe habitats on a minute level, but working in a plot of intense greenery and forest habitat on a 15-acre square in the middle of Columbus, OH for every day of the summer was more than a privilege, and I took full advantage of applying my knowledge to the landscape and how it changed throughout the day. I noticed a lot of my coworkers had a lot of fun, they would make songs with each other, played the funnest games, and made sure their campers were having a great time, which was amazing! The difference I noticed was that I was actively educating, something I saw maybe 1 or 2 counselors do regularly beside me. I intentionally worked to translate knowledge I gained in college or throughout my life for the people I was working with, kids and coworkers alike. By this, I mean I take the time to think through each piece of knowledge I share and curate it for the person as I think they might best understand something, but in a manner that attempts to negate my bias. It was really crucial for me to have this environmental education practice and dually understand so much while acknowledging how much I can never know about how differential perspectives and learning styles can be and how wide they can vary person to person. Honoring this is easy for me, but putting it into practice is a whole other skill and I feel proud of the teacher I have become. I never thought I would be able to immerse myself into the interpretative world due to a fear of public speaking and a lack of confidence in my knowledge of the natural world, but this position has set the stage for my career, not to mention, helped strengthen my personal perception and enhanced my growth in many facets. I am thankful to STEP for assisting me through this experience, allowing me to stay on my feet while I lived here in Columbus for this Internship to transform my personal, academic, and professional growth.
Kids being artistically creative using nature
FarmChef campers harvesting peppers