Life Lesson I've Learned from Glee

Be Happy. Someone Somewhere Has It Worse Than You Do.
          The Summer That Changed My Life

"It will be good for you," my mom said one afternoon.

It was the summer before I went to high school. At 14-years old, my thoughts were consumed by boys, dances, and how to apply makeup. My best friend Nicole saw an advertisement for a summer camp for Special Education students and wanted to volunteer.

"No. No way," I said. I planned on going to the pool, laying in the sun, and reading the latest issue of Seventeen all summer. But after much convincing, Nicole and I signed up in May for a volunteer session at Camp Shining Arrow.

For more information on Camp Shining Arrow, click here: http://www.ncpad.org/programs/index.php?id=3309&country=&state=Pennsylvania&city=Pittsburgh

Camp Shining Arrow is a summer camp for mentally challenged adults that experience severe difficulties functioning in day-to-day activities. I had had no experience working with these adults, and I was scared.Camp was from 9am until 5pm, Monday through Friday. We were assigned partners with one of the campers and were responsible for feeding, playing, and watching out for them throughout the day.

 When I met Henry, I didn't know how to react. He was a 32-year old man with severe Down Syndrome and could not even feed himself. I had to feed him his ham sandwich on the first day of camp.

"No. I not eat that," he said from his wheelchair, as he pushed the sandwich away.

"Please, Henry. Just eat some," I said. I was unfamiliar with what to do or say.

"Ok," he said. He took a large bite of the sandwich and chewed it.

The next thing I knew, Henry had taken the chewed up sandwich from his mouth and flung it in my hair. After several minutes of trying not to cry and some promises to Nicole about never returning back to the camp, I realized that I needed to be patient with Henry. I learned more in that summer at Camp Shining Arrow than I had any other summer of my life.