Dear Campers in Cabin #6,

I'm sorry. I failed you. Your week at camp was mediocre at best because I wasn't an attentive counselor. Thinking back, I've compared how amazing camp was for me as a camper, I have realized that your camp experience should have been much better. Thank you for teaching me lessons that I continue to remember to this day: be fully present, take charge of your opportunities, and make it less about me, as a leader, it will be better for everyone - including me.

You were my first group of campers as a counselor. I went to the camp as a child and was eager to have the opportunity to be a leader. As a camper, I had always wanted to be a counselor. Unfortunately, I was eager for all the wrong reasons. I was eager for late night counselor meetings, spending time with my other counselor friends, and getting the opportunity to spend additional years at camp. My motivation was all wrong.

Thank you for teaching me to be fully present. I didn't take time to listen to you. Honestly, I don't even remember all of your names. There was a lot of time that I spent sitting on a lawn chair and letting you fend for yourself. Upon reflection, I learnt that when leading a group, I have to know, to listen, and to learn each person's story.

Thank you for teaching me to realize what opportunities are available and to take charge of them. Instead, I let an opportunity slip away. Camp is a chance for you to make memories that last a lifetime. In subsequent years I made this change. My campers were encouraged to be part of the group. We made it special to be in the group. We made memories together. We laughed together. We had fun together.

Thank you for teaching me to make the group my focus as the leader. Our first year, I hung out with friends who were also counselors, enjoyed the lake, and embraced the camp fire. In subsequent years I also enjoyed friendship, the lake and the campfire, however in these years, that wasn't the focus. The focus was on helping my campers enjoy friendship, the lake, and the campfire. I had to have the correct focus: you!

When I decided to be an educator it was because of the success my campers had enjoyed at camp. I remembered my four years as a counselor. The 3 subsequent, successful years were only possible because of the lessons that I learnt from you. I went into education, first as a teacher and now as a principal. There isn't a day that I don't use this principle: When it is less about me, it is better for everyone - including me.

Yours in S'mores
Ben