The summer before my senior year of high school I had the opportunity to be a camp counselor at a camp for children with disabilities. This camp lasts a week for counselors but there are two sessions of campers that each stay 3 days. I decided to take the chance and go.

Since I was a first year counselor, I was a “floater” the first session, this just means that I didn’t have a camper and that I helped out with setting up activities and watched campers during rest/dorm hour while the counselors showered. But the second session I had my own camper and I knew then that I wanted to work with kids every day. Have you ever helped someone, or watched someone help someone else, and just watched their eyes light up? Well I’m telling you right now, if you haven’t, it’s the best feeling in the world; especially, if it’s because of something you did.

Going to that camp was a life changing experience, and I would tell anyone that gets the chance to work with special needs children, or under privileged kids, to do so. Getting to go to the activities and act as the child’s ‘older sibling’ for a few days gives you an amazing feeling. I cannot tell you how many times my camper told me that she was having more fun than she ever had in her entire life or how many times she thanked me. I do not think I will ever be able to forget her running up to me and wrapping her arms around me to hug me while thanking me what seemed like ten thousand times for her amazing experience.

Some of these kids have nothing. They might have a disability and/or a rough home life, but getting to change that, even for a few days, was unforgettable. That feeling made me want to be a teacher. It made me want to be an Early Childhood & Special Education major.

It’s not easy. The clearances are hard, confusing, and pricey. The classes are intense and going into the classroom as a freshman, for observations and tutoring, is difficult and time consuming. But I love going into the classroom and seeing the setting. Just last week I went into a class for observations and all the kids ran up to me and started asking me questions. They were so excited. That moment was so encouraging for me, it made me see that I am going to wake up every morning and I will love going to work. Seeing the smile on the kid’s faces makes the late nights and the early mornings worth it.

They say that events and people in your childhood shape who you are in the future, mentally, physically, and emotionally. I can’t wait to be a role model in my future student’s lives, and I am even more excited to help them learn the basics, feel safe, and guide them so that maybe one day they will have the same experience as me and will find a major they love just like I have.