It was a weekend dedicated to incorporating science into interesting activities. This provided an opportunity for children to experience science in nature, as opposed to their usual classroom setting. Since it was our first time attending 4H On the Wild Side, we were all dreading the loss of media for the weekend, given how it dominates our daily lives.
On Friday night before the children from three different elementary schools arrived, I was not in the best mood. I was anticipating for the children to be a bit whiny since the weather wasn't all that great. The requirement of teen tutors sleeping outside with the children also contributed to my gloomy mood. But this all changed Saturday morning.
The ecstatic children piled out of the buses and immediately turned my mood around 180 degrees. I was reminded of why I volunteered for this organization in the first place, to help these children. The children and I spent the entire Saturday and half of Sunday together, learning science, making friendship bracelets, and simply learning about their lives. The bond we created in just thirty hours was stronger than anything that could have been created with texting for sixty hours. There was about 100 children there, and by the time they left on Sunday, I had already known about fifty names, and grew close to about twenty. I was so emotionally attached to the children, I began crying at the ending ceremony when I realized I probably will not see the children again. The attachment was mutual and proven when the children reciprocated my tears and hugged my friend and I for almost ten minutes. Some of the children even left the lanyards and friendship bracelets they made at camp for us as a keepsake, saying things like "Please don't forget us," and "Can you come back with us?"
This trip provided me a great realization about the technological world today. People are so consumed with the communication of media, that real life interactions are minimized. Camp Gold Hollow was such an eye-opening opportunity that demonstrated how strong a relationship can become when there isn't the barrier of media. During the weekend, no one was communicating through a phone or any of the normal technologies we would use. Yet, my bond with the children was so strong I was influenced enough to cry uncontrollably at the thought of them leaving. Here's a picture of some of the children with my friend and I. I apologize for looking bad lol I was crying for fifteen minutes.
Inevitably, once I left the perimeter of the camp and finally received service again, I immediately replied to texts and Snapchats, and checked my Instagram feed. After all, my life is still undeniably consumed by media. But my view on media has definitely changed due to 4H because it demonstrated that I can in fact live without media, in contrast to my first post.
Steffany more people need experiences like these!!! Just last summer I was without media for a whole week while in Alaska without cell service or wifi!! And to be honest it was difficult at first but it got easier as the week progressed!! I realized that being with my friends was more important than having convos with people I wasn't even with via snapchat, text, and the other social media that actively consumes my attention. However on this trip it was nice to detach myself from this media that I am so dependent on. Don't get me wrong i would have loved to snapchat pictures of the beautiful scenery, or used my phone for easy navigation. But it wasn't needed!! We used maps!! Paper maps!
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