This previous summer, I spent a week completing my Silver Award. I was a summer camp councilor for the girl scouts. It was an enlightening experience to be modest- being able to work with those girls, and see their faces each day gave me something I don't think I'd ever had before, a purpose.
These girls looked up to me as a role model, every morning when I came in- they yelled my camp name, hugged me. For no other reason than that I was a councilor, they adored me. I was Captain Nuts, the Captain of the Good Ship Lollipop- a place where everyone was a star. It was a week of painting treasure chests and making maps. A week of learning about how to save our oceans, and of the creatures that lived there. We all learned something new everyday.
But what I learned the most about? Myself. I learned that it really is easier to smile and be there for others. For three years I have suffered from extreme depression, sometimes bad enough that I didn't have the energy to get out of bed. I've had surgery, I've been spaced- and yet these girls still loved me. They didn't know what I'd been through, and even if they had, I can sincerely believe that they'd still be there.
Those girls gave me a reason to be alive, and I look forward to returning next year. All I did was give them a few hours of my day, a few ounces of energy ( though they required more energy than I probably exert during the entire school year), and in return they gave me back my life.
During my sessions with these girls, I was able to teach them about respecting not only those around you, but yourself. I helped them dream of a place where we are all equal, and we are all stars. It's something most cannot acclaim too- they do not know the pure joy of working with little kids.
It's something I think all of us should try to do at least once. If only to realize that there is a pirate(a nice one at that) in all of us.