First day of students, Monday

The trend was for me to be up and out of my dorm very early. And Monday morning was no exception. I woke up at 5, and was to the dining hall at 6 am. Breakfast went better than dinner the night before but it was still hectic and took longer then it should. It helped that breakfast was a longer period of time and that mentors and mentees came in at all different times. There was a marshal at every station in the dining hall, to direct people to the right station. All the mentors and mentees had to eat and be outside by 7:30 or 8 so we could have our opening session at the armory. Even with Marshalls all along the route from the dining hall to the Armory, getting everyone there took longer then anticipated. For the short time I observed the session there was much excitement and singing of both mentors and mentees together. Two of the speakers during that open session that I remember were Dr. Maurer and Mike May. We then had to get all the students to their tracks which caused much chaos. Everyone was released by track and they went on there way. Just walking back to the main part of the campus was a hike and not even the staff knew the way. Somehow we all made it back . At this point I was given a radio to help with communication; which then helped me know where I needed to be, what to be doing, and which students I needed to help. Finally, I had clear and cut instructions of my role and responsibilities. The morning student tracks only lasted for a short few hours and soon I was back in the dining hall to marshal. For lunch on this day, there was not only our group but the additional group; which required us pulling every alive person who could marshall in the dining hall. Having the extra Marshalls certainly helped it worked out better than the night before. Much of the week was very hot in the upper 90’s; this day was no exception but being outside all day was hard on my body. The students were also not dealing with the large amount of activity and the heat Very well. One of my Maryland students was not feeling well requiring a nurses attention right away. It was a scary situation but once the nurse arrived it all worked out. I knew this student from my days mentoring in Maryland so I knew that she was having trouble with the heat. The poor nurse was very busy that day and many of the days to come. As soon as I got that student settled and feeling better I was then asked to walked two other students to buildings out by the armory; the sad thing is that both of the trips were separate. On one of the trips back from the armory, matt Maurer, brother to Dr. Maurer, helped me find my way. I never realized that he was Dr. Maurer’s brother. In the evening we were to have a dance on the quad, but because of the chance of rain, we had the dance and dinner in the armory. It took a hour and half to get everyone there, and by the time I got there I was very very tired. We had a cook out of hamburgers and hot dogs for dinner. The strange part was that in the armory there were no tables or chairs with mentee and mentors sitting every where on the floor. There was a band playing live music which caused so much noise in the cavernous building that I could not find anyone I knew to sit near. I eventually found a pole to lean against and ate my food alone. Up to this point I had walked miles upon miles, which were causing my ankles and feet to swell and to be painful. Most of the mentees enjoyed the dance and had a great time. While the dance and dinner were happening in the armory it did in fact rain very hard and heavy ending just as I stepped out of the building to get away from the extremely loud music. All of the mentors and mentees headed back around 9:30 PM arriving just at 10 PM for a dorm wide meeting. Instead of me attending the dorm meetings, I went right to bed. I could barely walk, and was in severe pain from my legs. Thinking I was coming prepared to the camp, I brought 4 pairs of shoes; unfortunately none of them helped relieve the pressure and pain from walking and standing so much. That was the first night I used pain medication to assist me in getting to sleep but it still turned out to be too short with only 4 hours before I was forced to get up to start all over again.

I know for some of you who are reading this on a daily basis, I am killing you with the suspense. and although the first few days were special the next few are by far the most important. So please keep checking back every day, because I guarantee the next days to come will be full of promise. *smile*