The alarm clock went off at 7:30 am on a Monday morning on August 2. I reluctantly woke up seeing as though I had fallen into the habit of sleeping in on summer days. Whether I liked it or not, my Camp Sunrise volunteering was only about an hour away. Little did I know, at the end of two weeks, I was able to learn a lot from the camp.

        Volunteers arrived at 8:45 am and campers started flooding the Smith Middle School cafeteria soon after. By 9:15, all counselors (group leaders), campers, and even volunteers gathered together at the center of the room for openings. During the openings, volunteers and their assigned buddies listened to the song “Here Comes the Sun” while also performing the song in sign language. This activity not only united the campers but allowed them to practice their listening skills and sign language. To get the campers off their feet, the campers were encouraged to dance along songs such as “YMCA” and “The Macarena”. Dancing forced the campers to remember the steps, which were often repetitive, and it permitted the campers to cooperate with the rest of their peers in an activity. On special occasions, there were field trips. Within my first week of volunteering, my assigned buddies and I went to Coco Keys Water Resort and Quassy. At Coco Keys Water Resort, Cassandra and I enjoyed the indoor water park by splashing in the water and sliding down the mini slides. At Quassy, Michael and I went on multiple different rides and were able to use a map to navigate our way around the park. On days where no field trips were planned, the campers would spend a day at Addison Pool. At the pool, my buddy and I would swim all around the pool and entertain ourselves with water games such as “Marco Polo” or “Tag”. As a volunteer for the last week of camp, I had the special privilege of participating in color games. The camp was divided into two teams and competed in mini games. Campers vie against each other in games such as looking for peanuts hidden in the grass, a swimming race, a water balloon toss, and as the final event, a relay. Every day at camp was different than the last but yet all very fun!

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        As with any other camps, Camp Sunrise had rules. The rules were to protect the safety of everyone. A simple rule is to keep all hands to yourself. At times, campers would neglect this rule and push, shove, and take other aggressive actions against another camper. When this happens, either a group leader or a volunteer breaks this rule in order to forcefully remove the camper. Many times, the stubborn camper refuses to follow the group. In this case, the volunteer and group leader carries the camper in a way that won’t hurt him or her. At the pool, it ...

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