“Camp was the best day of my life! Well except for being born!” said five year old Hailey after her first day of summer camp at Camp Orkila.
Little did I know how my time at the YMCA Camp Orkila would impact my life so much. There was lots of love, lots of tears and the learning was limitless. Even from a young age, I was submerged into the camp lifestyle. A hardworking women paved the road that would lead me down the path to success. This road hasn’t come easy, it’s been full of twists, turns, ups, downs, and many forks in the road.
It’s hard finding yourself in the world and I haven’t felt like I’ve made a difference in the world yet. I remember walking up a hill to the grassy parking lot where my parent’s dropped me off and picked me up everyday after camp. Halfway up the hill, in the middle of the path was big wooden sign that said “Take only pictures, leave only foot print”. My mom had to leave foot prints pave the path for me, so here I am making my appearance at the YMCA and leaving only foot prints.
Even in a million years, I never thought I would end up working at the YMCA. But somehow I ended up at the YMCA of Rapid City. I’ve found myself immersed in the Y culture again and I’m constantly having flashbacks of back when I was kid playing poison dart frog and singing bazooka bubble gum. Each day at work I say to my Kidstop kids “You know when I was kid, this was my favorite thing about being at the YMCA” or “When I was your age, we loved playing…” And even though my kids think their 21 year old teacher is 50 years old and even on the days I never wanna hear a kid say “Miss Hailey” again, I love going to work. I love seeing the kids, I love teaching them without them even realizing their learning. The kids always bring a smile to my face.
Each day I feel so grateful to have these kids, they draw me pictures and tell me how there day was. Even when my life feels like it’s spiraling down the rabbit hole, for a minute I get break when I get to be surrounded by such a loving environment. Who would’ve ever thought that the path my mom went down, would lead me down a similar path?
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