CICIT Guest Blog: Part 3

     This week we are going to be featuring guest blogs from our CIT campers from last week.  They are giving details about their experiences as well as their overall impression of what it meant to be a counselor at Camp Whitman.  This blog was written by CIT counselor, Shane Dubois.

2014 CIT campers

     When I was driving down Whitman Road for the 10th time in 7 years I had no clear idea what to expect in CIT this week. One thing I did know, it wasn't going be like any other camp I had ever been to in my past years of Whitman. After meeting my counselors Ileya and Jess, who I had never had before in past weeks at camp.  After doing name games and the normal safety hike, I knew that my life was never going to be the same.      

      Early in the week we had a deep discussion around the campfire and it amazed me that people would go that deep with people they barely knew. I immediately revisited the deep trust issues I had through the years and threw them out knowing I could trust this group to the sun and back. We also had an opportunity to have a vespers with Colin the wonderful volunteer Chaplin, and he asked us about what our story was and I really had to think. I've always thought as this average teenager from Elmira but Colin was really making me think and so I did, I'm was at this table with 4 other people who want to make a difference in at least one person’s life. Colin also asked us to describe one time in our life when we saw Jesus working in our lives or our favourite biblical story, most of us chose to describe when we saw Jesus’ work. I described when a man asked me to go to Camp Whitman and how every time I come to camp I take so much back with me every year.

CITs at all camp vespers, worship service

     We got the opportunity to work with almost all the camps that were there that week! I'll start with Pine, our camp for people with developmental disabilities. Pine is so easy to work with for me because my mom is disabled and I applied skills that I've used with her for years to working with pine. Taking time explaining the activity, fellow camper James and I led the "Sports and Games" camp and personally worked with that camp and all the other camps. It was incredible working with the Adventures camp and the Day camp. I had always had a good sense of planning things just not a clear way of executing things that I had planned, but I quickly learned a great way of doing this with Pine campers and also Graded campers. We also learned useful strategies to use when working with campers.

CITs working with our Day Campers

     We also had a service project that we worked on throughout the week, which was cleaning and making the stairway that leads from main field to where the Pine cabins are located. On the last day we sat on the bridge that was pretty much finished and talked and reflected back on the week. After some self thought when I got home I soon realized how much Jess and Ileya had helped me grow so much throughout the week and how blessed I really was to do CIT this year.

CIT campers standing on the stairs that they worked on this week

    After saying my goodbyes to my fellow counselors-in-training and getting in my car and driving down Whitman Road and Rt. 14 back to Elmira I had no words as people asked me how my week was it was the most life changing experience I have ever had and I am exited to devote the rest of my summer to volunteering with the wonderful ministry that is Camp Whitman on Seneca Lake!