Staff Reflections - Travis Johnson
Staff Years: 1992-1995
Aquatics Instructor, Scoutcraft Instructor, Waterfront Director
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When I first started at Camp Lowden, I was not sure what was
expected of me. When I was told that I had to perform a skit, I suddenly felt
quite ill. When asked to lead a song I
wanted to faint. I was initially
terrified of getting up on front of people. What eventually got me over this fear was when my area director,
Mark Wallace
began asking me to make announcements at assemblies. This started to
make me feel more confident about myself. We could always count on other staff members giving us advice on our
performance and how well we presented ourselves. Being a staff member taught me a great many things, such as how to perform in an emergency, how to react in inclement weather, and how to reassure a Scout about his abilities. During the week there was always Scouts, even some of the more experienced Scouts, who often wondered if they were going to complete a merit badge on time. It is the job of the camp staff to reassure those Scouts that they are doing well and to assist them in completing their work on time. A common problem faced by every camp staff member was fatigue. There are many jobs that staff members must complete, many of which are behind-the-scenes work that most people do not realize. One such job is the bleaching of the dining hall floor, which was done each week. This particular task would take hours to complete, and sometimes we would not finish until early the next morning. For those of us on the aquatics staff, we were expected to be at the pool and ready to go at 6:00 a.m. Sometimes it was all we could do from falling asleep while watching Scouts do the mile swim. During my final summer on camp staff I served as the waterfront director, an area that I knew fairly well. This is an area that most directors dislike as the waterfront area is full of potential catastrophes that could and would spring up at any moment. The movement of the water, the depth of the water, other boats, and the visibility of the water all contributed to the constant danger that the Waterfront staff faced. Some of the requirements that Scouts have to do involve a high amount of risk. These requirements include swamping of the boats, the jumping out and getting back in without swamping. These things do not sound that hard but we had to look out for a bunch of kids who could start having trouble at any moment. When I thought of these things I always looked at the positive side, that the Scouts were learning something and all the chances that they took really did not seem to bother them at all. Working on camp staff was a very interesting and enjoyable part of my life. I encourage Scouts and Scouters to participate with the summer camp program in some aspect at least once. The summer camp experiences that I have had will last a lifetime. Travis Johnson |