I can remember looking at myself in the mirror at a washroom in Lake Louise Village. The bus had just picked up me and nine other hikers after our ten-day hike as part of the Leadership One program at YMCA Camp Chief Hector. I barely recognized myself! I couldn’t believe how different I felt after that journey and I knew that moment would stick with me for years to come.

Truth is it still hasn’t left me. The kind of empowerment I felt in that moment propelled me to finish my eight years as a Hector camper in the Leadership Two program the following summer and shortly after take my first role as a counselor.

There is no doubt in my mind that the person I am today is a reflection of my years involved with YMCA camps. I can still remember every one of my counselors, the friends I shared so many challenges and triumphs with each summer, and the trips we took. When my summers as a camper came to a close, I knew there was more to come, I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to campfires and the outdoors! I wanted to give back the special moments, companionship, and leadership so many others had given me.

I spent my first summer as staff as a day camp counselor at the South YMCA. Hectic and crazy it was, but I remember the kids and the stories they shared with me and the fulfillment I felt at the end of each day. I went back to Hector the next summer, to help run the new Shotungwa horse program at the outpost camp in the Yaha Tinda Valley. It was incredibly inspiring to share my love of horses with the young girls in the program and to have them feel strong and accomplished at the end of the session.

Following that summer, I had an opportunity to run the horse program for the Leadership One campers. I can’t say enough how much that summer meant to me, to share my love and passion for the outdoors and horses with a group of young adults who rose to every challenge I threw at them, and who reminded me so much of myself at that age. The potential in them was touching and I was proud to be a part of their growth.

After that summer, I still wasn’t ready to finish working with youth, and by then, being a bit more settled with an apartment and a relationship in Calgary, I was lucky to become involved with YMCA  Camp Riveredge. I spent two summers working as the Assistant Director, and just this past summer, as the Director. I laugh to myself sometimes when I wonder how I might have reacted if someone would have told me as a camper I would have ended up a camp director. I probably would have believed them, I liked to take charge and direct even then!

I found these summers leading a camp to be the most rewarding, as I was not only engaged with the campers, but had a direct impact on the leaders and how they created memories. Again, the kind of leader I have become and the kind of camp I was able to run were directly influenced by my many years as a staff member and a camper within the YMCA.

The YMCA, in creating unique challenges and pushing each individual’s capacity, in fostering a love for our environment and each other, in providing opportunities to develop one’s leadership as well as opportunities to share the lessons we’ve learned, has helped so many youth understand their potential, and provide them the tools to get there!

Thanks for the memories!

Emma