*Late* Summer Update




The summer starts off with campers from all over the U.S. flying and driving to Apopka, FL for an environmental/nature camp. With kids in grades ranging from 3rd - 8th grade. My first year coming to camp was in 2005 and was in the cabin of Telecheekee. I still remember today the first time I went to camp (2004) to pick up my siblings after them being gone for a whole week when I met a few of the counselors and got my new camp name Ocho. I was given the name Ocho because I am the 8th child of 11 in my family and they felt it best fit. After all, Susannah is an uncommon name (just as is Ocho) but not many people get it right or even spell it correctly. Oh well! Throughout the years of going to camp, the name Ocho stuck even while a counselor. This summer, I came back as one of the camp nurses and was given almost like an upgrade to my name and got the title "Nurse Ocho”. 




  Coming back to camp as one of the nurses has definitely been a big role change. Not only because I am putting what Im going to school for to work, but that I am used to being a counselor and being with the campers 24/7, sleeping in cabins without air conditioning, going to night “meetings”, trying to get a crew of 8 children dressed and ready for the sessions bright and early, etc. I still work with the kids and get to go to the evening programs, but I also have a role in which I am learning the ropes in regards to being the nurse so that next year when I graduate, I can be here all on my own and get to be a full-time nurse for camp. There is a lot of downtime as the nurse but there is also a lot of instances when you have multiple campers coming in at one time. There are even times when you can have a line out the door of people waiting to see you. It is a very rewarding role to be in. 



At Wekiva, they have a tradition in which all of the volunteers get to go up and get their food first, before all of the campers and counselors. It is their way of saying “thank you” for taking the time out of their lives to come and help at camp. Growing up as a camper and counselor, it was always a waiting game of trying to entertain your campers while waiting to go up and serve your kids their meals but now as a volunteer at camp, going first is definitely not natural for me. It is a really neat thing, but was very strange and made me feel almost out of place when I first did it. A gesture that the camp does that may be small, but means a lot. 



Late night nurse calls!


Invertebrates was the theme this year and the Central Florida Zoo brought in many different invertebrates for the camp to see and experience. 

















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