One Facilitator’s Summer

For the past couple-a-few days we’ve been busy saying goodbye to some of our staff who are returning to school and doing End of Season interviews with others.  Needless to say there has been a lot of reflecting on the summer happening around here.  Creighton took some time to write out how her summer went, and I’d like to share it with you now:

As we approach our last few days of the summer season, it’s time to think back to all the amazing times we’d had over the past three months: the adventures, the people we met, and the incredible things we did here, all at Bark Lake.

While I was around a bit last year, this summer was my first full summer at Bark Lake and it did not disappoint. From overnight hikes, to mega-initiatives on the high ropes course, I learned something new every day. And while I absolutely love the outdoors and everything it has to offer, some of my best memories come from the students we had at Bark Lake this summer and their experiences.

One week, I was working with an international group, which was made up of over 10 different countries including Switzerland, Jordan, Korea, and more. On the eco-hike, I was teaching them about Birch bark, and why it is excellent for starting fires (very similar to paper, and did you know it has oil in the bark?). When I asked what type of tree they thought it was, I got a lot of different answers, and they were all correct! How you ask? Everyone answered in their own language! For the next little while we learned how to say Birch Tree in many different languages, laughing as we all stumbled on the words, or forgot how to say it two seconds later. It was a great bonding experience for the group, and something that would only ever happen at Bark Lake.

At the end of every visit, Bark Lake runs a “debrief”, a moment for the participants and the facilitators to reflect on everything we did over the past couple of days: what surprised us, what push us, what was our favourite moment, and so on. One of my favourite versions of the debrief, is the Post-Card. Passing out blank sheets of paper, we ask everyone to draw a picture on one side and on the other they write a message to someone they could send this post-card to. We then go around the circle and everyone shares what they’ve made. Answers are just as varied as the countries we have at Bark Lake: roasting marshmallows, canoeing, high ropes, eco-hike, the food, the cabin, meeting new friends. Possibly everything that could come up, has.

So, as the summer is ending, I thought it would be appropriate for me to share my “postcard” for the summer. However, I’m not much of an artist, so instead of drawing my postcard, I’ll describe it to you. It’s taken a lot of thought to try and narrow down my whole summer into one image, but I when I think back to Bark Lake, this is what sticks out in my mind. So here it is:

It’s late at night, and fairly dark. The only light is the moon, its reflection on the water, and a campfire at Canoe Beach. Around the campfire, are people from all over the world; talking, laughing, and singing in their own languages. It’s not a noisy campfire, although it could be, instead everyone is speaking in hushed tones, as to not disrupt the magic around them.

To me, campfires are the perfect way to end a camp. Everyone sits together, enjoying each others company and the warmth of the fire. The hard work is done, and now we get to enjoy our time together. Whether going crazy and signing ridiculous songs, learning news songs from around the world, or teaching people how to roast a marshmallow for the first time, campfires were definitely a magical part of my summer at Bark Lake and I look forward to more in the fall, and next summer. I would send the post-card to my little brother, and it would say:

I think I found the perfect job. What are you doing next summer?
Your answer should be: Applying to Bark Lake.