Reinforcement

This week was another "Just for You" week, a week with a one on one camper to staff ratio. This was mostly for campers with strong behavior issues or those with a high level of personal care. We had a fabulous group of five campers, all of whom were sweet and funny. A much needed change from the craziness of the last Just for You week.

The real lesson this week came from a weekend adventure-a send off for one of the counselors whose work visas expired and was leaving the country. We went to Iowa City to have dinner and hang out. Long story short, some shenanigans ensued and it reminded and reinforced my ideas in relation to alcohol. Inevitably, in every group of friends, there are the responsible ones: the ones that round everyone up and drive them home at the end of the night. As someone who didn't ever drink until I was a senior, this was a role I held throughout college and well into my adult life. I have never been the one to get completely ridiculous, drop my cell phone in a toilet, leave my credit card at the bar, and disappear, leaving my whereabouts unbeknownst to my friends. Even during a few crazy nights in grad school and during the cold winter months in Alaska where the bars were the warmest place to be when it was -32 degrees outside, I still managed to make it home with everyone I arrived with with all of my belongings in tow. As the responsible one, sometimes I envy those people and their ability to be completely free of any and all responsibility for themselves and those around them. But on the other hand, I can't imagine being on the other side of the table. I know myself pretty well at this point and I know that's not the person I ever wanted to be. My motto when going out? Don't ever be that girl you make fun of. I feel like that may also be a good life motto as well.

I never went through that"crazy get it out of your system we're in college let's find ourselves and make really bad decisions" phase in college. It just never happened. And I'm perfectly okay with that. The up side of never going through that phase? Having more time and money to travel or to do whatever I wanted to do that didn't come in a glass. I got good grades in college. I was involved in lots of activities and had time to do all sorts of things that I wouldn't have been able to do otherwise. Also, meeting other amazing people who weren't interested in partaking either. They're out there and they're pretty great. I don't judge people that choose to be ridiculous when they drink, I really don't. (Well maybe those girls. And maybe just a little.) But I am also making a choice-to never be that girl that I make fun of. And if I can avoid college bars and nights out that make me feel like I'm a hundred, that's okay too.