MERICAA

After a very long and interesting summer, I am finally back to carry on blogging about everything I have experienced over the summer and to keep everything updated on the goings on at University. Now that I am entering the start of my first semester as a 3rd year, I feel that I will have a lot to report on.

So this summer I gained a once in a lifetime opportunity to work at a summer camp in America. After a lengthy application, many fee's, trips to the US Embassy and endless days packing and preparing for this journey, it finally came around and on the 17th June I embarked on a 2 month whirlwind in the Catskill Mountains located in upstate New York.
I arrived at the co-ed Camp Chipinaw wondering what I had got myself in to. The camp was huge and there were lots of other people just like me arriving at camp not knowing what to expect. There was an induction week before the children arrived, to let us to know what camp was like and how to take care of the children.
When the children had arrived, the whole dynamic of camp changed; it was buzzing. Kids aged from 7-15 running around, seeing their old friends and having the best times of their lives in a place that many of them liked to call their home. I was put into a bunk nicknamed the 'Midget House' as I had the youngest division. There were 29 girls in my bunk as well as 12 other councillors. It was very manic and a bunk that never slept, however my fellow councillors and the kids were great and we all got on instantly from the start and by the end had created a very special friendship.
As a specialist it was my duty on a daily basis to teach video and editing so classes of a variety of ages. I would take them around the camp as they would film other activies, film each other messing around and also a lot of music video's wer produced. It was the footage that the kids had taken that was then to be emerged into the end of camp video which myself and the other video specialist put together for everyone to watch on the last night before the kids returned home.

Since returning from camp I have realised how much I have gained from this experience. Working in with children on such a large scale has given me skills such as leadership and helping the development of these children. I now feel I will be able to handle situations a lot better in any circumstances because I had to have a lot of patience during camp which will definitely benefit me in the future.
Working on Adobe Premier Pro has made me more confident using editing software and it has made me more intruged to discover the process of post-production. I would like to now get the chance to do some more editing either in or out of University to broaden my knowledge of the industry.

Overall, this has undoubtly been the most interesting extraudinary summer of my life and one to never forget.

Anyone thinking about doing Camp America should follow this link to find out more information.

http://www.campleaders.com/gb/

Here is a link to the camp that I went to!

http://www.chipinaw.com/