From my past experience with message boards, I have realized that it is important for people to see that they cannot make judgments about the skills and abilities of other people just by posting a few messages. Personally, I have reserved judgment about many people here, even though I do wonder how effective some people may be at their jobs. I do this because of the means of communication we are using.
Lately, however, I have noticed that some people just do not understand many of the points I am trying to make. As a result, my opinions have appeared to be quite "warped." In reality, however, they are quite valid and academically sound; in fact, some have told me this privately but have went on to explain that they just don't feel comfortable expressing this based on the company they are in. Perhaps I am not explaining myself well, or perhaps some don't understand what I am saying - that I cannot answer.
It's really a shame that some have taken the liberty to assume that I have no respect for authority and tend to bend the rules quite often. The complete truth is that I am one of the most by the book staff members there is, and have even been criticized by campers a few times for this. I am not looking to convince people of this, as there really is no point. I realize we cannot totally judge a person based on their means of communication on this board; but obviously others do not feel the same. Furthermore, there seems to be somewhat of a gang mentality going on - meaning that some individuals who are "friends" with others seem to be supporting some of the opinions that are being made.
I am not going to attempt to be modest in my next statement. The fact is: I am one of the best camp staffers and educators out there. I come highly referred and know of many that can verify this. (Naturally, this will be the sentence some of you will pick-out to quote when drafting your reply, but I think I can handle it) Yes, I wasn't too thrilled with administration from this past summer. The reasons for this is that they showed an unwillingness to communicate. They begun the summer by not being truthful about my assignment, and were then unavailable when I tried to discuss the situation. I admit that I have very high expectations of my employer, but in no way did I ever show them any disrespect which some of you seem to suggest. I also think that those of you in a position of authority should look at yourselves - perhaps you are not as amazing at communication and supervision as you think - perhaps you let one of your greatest staff members get away because of this. From reading these postings, I feel this may be true for some of you.
My last point is quite simple. Camp is not all about teddy bear's and lollipops. If some of you think it is that simple, then there is one of two things going on: 1) you are incredible at what you do, or 2) you just don't see many of the things that go on and have campers that do not really confide and trust you. Frankly, I hope that it is #1, and for many of you that may be the case. From my experience, though, there are issues that will come up during a summer that need to be dealt with in an appropriate and professional way. I was hoping this could be a place where some of these things could be discussed - but instead it became a place where the ideas of others are not valued at all.
I think I will take a break for a few weeks. I will observe in the meantime, and maybe even post on some of the "fluffy" topics. Perhaps when (and if) I return full-force, people will have grown-up a little and know how to participate in effective debate.
