Nerd Camp 2013

John Paul and myself on Mount Olympus, reigning over the mere mortals. Because what else are you going to do at nerd camp (Photo cred: Bernadette). 

for the long silence! I spent the past two weeks in Texas, working as an RA for a high school summer program run by Ye Olde Institution of Higher Learning. It was an absolute blast, and I even think the students may have had some fun (I kid, I kid. They had fun too). I did the program myself, way back in the day (ish), so it was a nice trip down memory lane, as well as a terrific summer job.

Working with 30+  high school students is about a million times easier than trying to corral 10 eight year olds- just to compare my two summer jobs. High school students don't have to be taken to the loo every 10 seconds, they can get their own drinks of water... On the other hand I'd forgotten just how much drama you can squash into two weeks. But in all seriousness, it was the most rewarding and fun experience I've had in a very long time. My two coworkers, Bernadette and John Paul, are possibly the coolest people ever, and we had a ton of fun hanging out after the students were supposed to be in bed. Mostly John Paul would tell random stories or play guitar for us, which was amazing. That guy has been everywhere and done the craziest things. Bernadette and I have known each other since we did the program ages ago (well, sort of ages ago), so we both re-bonded over our copies of the Norton Anthology of Poetry, as we desperately try to figure out our upcoming Junior Poetry Projects.

Sure, we had our ups and downs, like when the fire alarm went off at some ungodly hour of the morning, and I had to shoo twenty terrified girls outside, all the while wearing a ridiculous pair of pajama pants printed with large, blue cats. And, of course, it turned out that someone's hairspray, yes, hairspray had set the darn thing off to begin with. When we were finally allowed back inside, the girls were asking, "Who was using hairspray?" To which John Paul sleepily replied, "It was I." Then we had the day where everyone dropped the ball, and I had to run all over creation before I'd had my coffee, which is imperative for brain function if you had, oh, I don't know, stayed up until three listening to John Paul's crazy stories. Despite all the goof-ups we really did have a wonderful time. The three RA's made a great team, and somehow we managed to pull off some really impressive stunts. When it rained the whole first week, we had to improvise all our activities, so we had a sock war, a Plato's Cave building competition (it's a nerdy school, okay!), and, of course, played a ridiculous amount of foosball. But our proudest accomplishment was making the talent show un-awkward. Admittedly, it was at the expense of our own dignity, and I never ever ever want to see John Paul in Bernadette's clothes again, but it was hilarious.

But all too soon it was all over. I don't think I've ever been so depressed in my life, watching all the kids leave was absolutely heart-rending. We spent last Saturday desultorily cleaning the dorm, pausing now and again to sigh deeply and moan about how purposeless our lives were. Then the time came when we no longer had an excuse to stick around, and I had to bid farewell to my fellow RA's. I'm going to be completely mushy here and say that since we all split up, I have missed them terribly. Fortunately, this being such a small Catholic world, I'm sure we'll all meet again someday.