Half way through the camp and I changed my role from an educator to a coach. In the children's perspective this was a good thing because many of them got to see the down to earth, real side of my personality and not the strict teacher they began to signify me as. At this point I had the opportunity to interact with the children, still educational but on a different aspect. I actually had the chance to participate in football with the different groups and experience how exhausting it was to be playing the sports in the hot sun.
Overall I had a great experience with the program and I have definitely seen the changes that occurred with many of the children. Watching the kids learn and develop new skills while having fun and enjoying the camp as well. As a coach it was a challenge to motivate some of the kids cause football is a rough and challenging sport especially in the weather we were faced with. Though, it was a great achievement to encourage the children and watch as they became more engaged with the sport with positive reinforcement and recognition of accomplishments they have made.
It was only a five week camp but it has exhausted me mentally, emotionally, and physically. I have learned so much about myself personally throughout my participation in the camp as well as the community in Cleveland and surrounding areas. The camp involves children from various regions of the city which gives you a better understanding about the entire surrounding community as a whole. It was a shock just to notice the differences in the individuals even though they lived so close together. The experience was also a big cultural shock too, being immersed into a program of 400 children mostly African American. Though, I learned so much just being exposed to the cultural on a first hand basis. It was definitely a benefit to our experience in our public health rotation as a nursing student.
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