Thursday, August 14, 2014

George Merrill: AESOP leader and molder of young minds

Hey guys,

My name is George Merrill, a rising junior here at Bates. At the start of this summer I made an impulsive, last-minute decision to go back to Maine to work at camp Chewonki, a summer camp for boys in Wiscasset. I had no idea what I was getting myself into, so it’s been an interesting summer to say the least. In past years I’ve slaved away as a bicycle mechanic, working long hours while covered in grease for bosses who aren’t familiar with the concept of windows or air conditioning. With the majority of my paychecks going towards wholesale priced bike parts, I figured I could deal with the scary-low wages of a summer camp. Also, who isn’t down to get paid to play outside?

It’s been a fun summer, but it’s been an exhausting one at the same time. I’ve spent countless hours telling campers not to shoot each other at the archery range, I’ve done tons of canoeing, and been to both Acadia National Park and Baxter State Park. All with boys around the feisty young age of about eleven. The annoying aspects aside, no one can provide ridiculous amusement quite like and eleven year old on an archery range or a wilderness trip.

This experience has been an awesome one full or highs and lows, and maybe a little more type-two fun than I initially signed up for. But hey, it’s been an adventure and now I can check it off the list of things I don’t regret but will never do again, even if they try to tempt me with pay above minimum wage. I’m excited to get back to Bates so I can hike in the Prezies with some people my own age.


I’m looking forward to meeting all of you guys in a few short weeks!


No comments:

Post a Comment