I was very happy to be a counselor. I've always been my happiest when I'm able to connect one on one with a group of kids. My friends who was the administrative assistant was intern of this camp and I was also glad to be able to help her out.
I was EXHAUSTED from the prior week. I was so tired and there was still so much to do. Even though I wasn't technically on the leadership team, because I was the children's intern I had been involved in helping with a lot of the planning and organizing. So of course, during the week of camp I was helping above and beyond.
The kids were great, my co-counselors were great, the leadership was doing a wonderful job. Everything was going well. I was nursing wounds though. I was hurt from a few of the things that happened at the previous camp. I was trying to get over it, move past it, ignore it, but they were still there.
As the week progressed, I got more into the camp. One day while the kids were playing a camp, I had a few moments to just chat with my friend. We caught each other up on what we had been doing, talked about the camp, shared our experiences.
Apparently someone was listening to our conversation, but not enough to hear what we were actually saying. They heard enough to form their own opinions and decided that we were gossiping about another leader and spreading a nasty rumor about this person. (COMPLETELY UNTRUE)
I discovered this when my big boss called me in to meet with her. In the room was her, my boss, my friend and I. She confronted me and accused me of trashing a leader. Gave me a big lecture about how disappointed she was and how could I? She didn't ask my version, didn't even question for a moment that I had not done this thing. She just berated me.
I tried to speak up and was told to be quiet.
So I sat and tried to listen, all the while screaming on the inside.
Finally I lost it. I screamed out loud. I yelled at her and told her she was completely wrong. I cried and sobbed and yelled. She called me a liar.
That's right.
To my face.
To my face.
Even when my friend insisted that we hadn't said this bad thing, it didn't matter.
At that point, I aired all my grievances. (I know, not very productive). I told her how hurt I had been when she didn't acknowledge my hard work, she she ignored my requests for constructive criticism, everything.
She told me that she was not going to acknowledge that.
We yelled and screamed at each other (her temper runs very hot too) for a while. After a while, we were just done. I don't remember how it ended exactly, but I know she informed me that we both had jobs here and we needed to end this. She said she was disappointed in me and left me there.
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