Student Blog: Besides Which You See, I Have Confidence In Me

This past month, I’ve embarked on a couple different adventures– working with children, being a camp counselor, and helping get a show up on its feet. The rough part about this… I was doing them all at the same time. For the first time. Me and two other women had ten days to get 15 seven year-olds to put on a 20 minute musical, which was quite the show in itself.

I was extremely nervous coming into my new job as a theatre camp counselor, as I hadn’t realized how many children there were for so few counselors– along with not having worked with kids before. I was trying to look on the bright side and relax, telling myself, “it’s okay, it’s just like Sound of Music!” despite feeling nervous. Luckily, upon getting there, I found myself able to get the hang of things. The first day was very chaotic as I quickly learned names, faces, and how to tie knots for friendship bracelets, but we were all getting the time to start warming up to one another. We gave the kids lots of playtime to get to know us and the other children, but soon started to incorporate theatre elements through games like “Wax Museum” and “Zip Zap Zop.” 

The show we were doing was called “Prime Time Nursery Rhymes,” and consisted of nursery rhyme characters talking and singing about their different stories. My colleagues and I divided up how we’d work on the show– the director of the camp/show would do the blocking and dances, I would teach the music, and our other counselor would help keep the children focused and behaved while we worked on the show. 

Teaching music for the first time– to seven year-olds nonetheless– was a bit of a backbend, as we would get the kids playing some game or other so I had time to run to the backroom to teach myself a song in two minutes, that I would then spend twenty teaching it to them. I found it very interesting learning how to teach music quickly and efficiently from my experience as a music student, but also exploring how to do so in ways that a child would respond well to, and see as something enjoyable rather than work. 

Due to how young the kids were, I wasn’t sure what to expect in terms of what they’d be able to pull off when it came to learning songs and dances. However, I can say that I ended up being pleasantly surprised, as the majority of them became very enthusiastic about the performance as we started to piece the show together. Once we finished learning full songs, incorporated costumes and sets, and started practicing on the stage, the kids grew more and more excited to perform. 

I would be lying if I said that I didn’t feel like I was going crazy at times– getting songs about Humpty Dumpty and Little Boy Blue in my head– but despite how rowdy they could get in rehearsals, once it came time for the show, the kids performed the show wonderfully – remembering all five songs, all their dance steps, lines, and costume changes. Even though there were moments of frustration or exhaustion over the two weeks, I couldn’t help but grin backstage as I watched their hard work pay off. Seeing how proud and excited the kids were after performing was truly heartwarming, as I felt I was really watching the love of performing take root in them at a young age. 

Once the show was over, the kids swarmed me with hugs and thank you's for being the “best counselor ever” alongside my colleagues. Meeting parents and hearing about how much their kids loved the experience we created for them made it all worthwhile, especially hearing about how they’d been excitedly practicing the songs and dances at home leading up to the show. 

The production was quite the circus act to pull together with our timeframe and age group, but it meant a lot to me to have a part in these kids performances and overall interest in theatre. One of the kids and his parents even came to see me perform in my own summer show; his mom has since sent me videos of her son singing and performing songs from it! Working in children's theatre, even just for a few weeks, was an adventure I never expected myself to embark on, but I’m really glad I did, as I believe I got just as much out of the experience as the children did. I may not be Maria VonTrapp, but I can certainly say after this, when it comes to working with kids, I have a newfound confidence in me :) 

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