Exit 30: Issue 2
Continuing the series of my articles for Exit 30: The Camp Rosenthal Staff Chronicle
How would you describe yourself to someone who does not know you? What are the things you say in job or college interviews? I’d imagine you say a lot of the same things I do when asked to describe myself; I say that I am an energetic, hardworking, fun, friendly, and accepting person. I’m sure you have used some of those, and most certainly many other positive qualities to describe yourself. In fact, it is because of your description of yourself that we decided to hire you to work at Camp Rosenthal. As I mentioned last week, we did not take that decision lightly.
As we near camp, I think it is important to reflect on what we say we are and what we actually are. Please take a moment to think back on all of those positive qualities that you use to describe yourself and try and recall a situation where you lived up to that quality and a time that you did not. Most people will describe themselves as “hardworking,” though we all have moments of laziness. Most of us describe ourselves as “friendly,” though there are times when we are tired and stressed out and are less than friendly to even our closest friends. Those things happen to even the best among us, and it is important to recognize those situations as learning opportunities.
I like to live by the idea that there are no mistakes, only learning opportunities; there is no failure, only feedback. I recently read a book that talked in great length about this idea, and used a great story to illustrate the concept. The story goes something like this:
Two men are walking down an old dirt road shortly after a rainstorm. The two men are deeply engaged in conversation and don’t notice the large rut running through the road in front of them, and both men trip and fall on their faces onto the muddy old road. Man one lies on the ground cursing the rain and the road for developing a rut while hitting himself repeatedly in the head for being so stupid as to fall. Man two on the other hand, stands up, dusts himself off, and continues his walk while keeping his eyes on the road ahead in order to avoid the next rut.Between now and the time you arrive at camp, keep an eye out for ruts in the road ahead of you. And if you happen to trip, pick yourself off, dust yourself off, and get back on your journey. Just be sure you learned from your fall.
See you all soon!
Ryan Yepsen
Recruiter / Program Director