Knowing well ahead of time that my bosses would be confiscating cellphones my first thought was this: go to Best Buy and get myself a DSLR camera (and basically put myself in $500 debt the night before I leave). Thanks to the ever sensible advice of my little sister/roommate I was a smart steward of my money and spend $30 on two disposable cameras rather than a spur of the moment $500+ on a fancy camera. So off to camp I went arms with a mere 56 frames to capture my 4 weeks at camp.
Things that you should know about disposable cameras:
1. Picture quality is below average at best.
2. Literally EVERY picture is a gamble. There is no way to know whether or not it will actually turn out.
3. There's a flash, but let's be real no one knows when to actually use said flash.
4. The day you finally get the pictures back is like the best and worst Christmas all wrapped into one.
5. I was pretty confident that there would be at least one fellow summer staffer with a nice camera so my disposable venture was worth the risk.
Things I learned because of disposable cameras:
1. In 2014 people will look at you funny when you whip out a disposable or ask them to take your picture and hand them one.
2. With only 56 frames every picture really is worth a thousand words. Each one tells a specific and special story because each picture is used with a purpose (well most of the time).
So armed with my 2 disposable cameras and ready to be a quasi-photojournalist I went. And after getting the prints back and realizing that I am - in fact - a part of the population that doesn't know how to actually used a camera, and throwing away numerous duds, I was reminded of the story behind each and everyone (even the sucky ones).
This is the more detailed story of my time at Champion - one picture at a time. (Sorry if you're sick about hearing about Champion. But also not sorry).
This is Emily and Bridget having a chat during one of the last days she was at camp. Emily was one of our favorites. On day one she ended up in the craft shack with a fat lip from tubing and announced to us that she wasn't doing any of that crazy again the rest of the week. Thankfully for us that meant we had a new friend to hang out with the rest of the week. (The week Emily was at camp was the week crafts was the most dead so having her come around every day was such a special treat). She never wanted to make anything, she just wanted to talk. And talk we did. (I also got to chat a bunch with Emily's leader Olivia a bunch so we really got to know her special story).
Emily was the oldest child in her family and had dropped out of high school to be the caretaker for all the babies. Olivia told me she wasn't sure how the family would even survive the week with her away. That broke my heart. But something she kept saying as she told us about all the struggles in her life was "But I know Jesus is looking out for me."
I'll never be able to fully understand or comprehend all of Emily's situation, but to be able to watch this girl who was forced to grow up so incredibly fast enjoy herself to no end for a week with nothing on her agenda but having the best week of her life was one of the most special things I've been able to experience. To hear her say that she knew Jesus had her back gave me so much hope and put my life in to perspective. Am I really thankful for all the opportunities I have? Not really.
Thank you for humbling me, Emily, and for adding so much joy to and brightening my first week at camp. You're a star.
0 comments:
Post a Comment