Not Another Ordinary Day At Summer Camp Anonymous

It was 10:30 PM on another Thursday night at summer camp in Freedom, New Hampshire. However, it wasn’t just another night. The head photographer, a professional for many years, had suddenly decided to quit. He left me, a 16-year old Counselor in Training, sitting in the office, simply saying “Olivia, you’ll be fine these next 11 days.” I sank into my chair as a wave of fear and insecurity swept over me. Down the hall of my office in the admin building was the director’s office, the only place I knew I could turn. I walked in, sat down, and said to him: “I have no idea what I’m going to do, and I have no idea how I’m going to do this. All I know is that I want to.” We talked through what my approach and strategies would be for the next hour and a half, until I left to sleep on it.

I woke up the next morning thinking about everything that I had learned from shadowing the photographer for the past month. I realized there was nothing to be scared about, because everybody had my back. All the counselors, all my campers, all my friends and all the directors were all rooting for me. They would do anything to help me get where I needed to be. I walked into my office, picked up my camera, and walked out. It was “go” time.

The next 11...