How many years have you worked at SEP?
This is my first year!
What about SEP made you want to work here?
I'd heard that Liz (head counselor) had done it the previous summer, and she had nothing but great things to say about it. I've always loved working with kids, so being able to live in Charlottesville and be a counselor was the best of both worlds -- what could be better than getting paid to have fun and having a blast with the kiddies?!
What is your special topic?
I am teaching All About Chocolate -- the history, chemistry, production, and cultural factors of this delicious treat! As a kid, I could not get enough of milk and white chocolate, and now I've moved on to dark, but this remains my favorite sweet-tooth go-to. We will do a fair amount of learning, as well as hands-on activities, like creating a brand new flavor, and making an advertisement for a new brand of chocolate. It'll be sweet!
What's your favorite part of camp, and why?
I love that, as the session progresses, your campers become so incredibly bonded to not only each other, but to you as well, much like friends. We can joke around, talk about anything, yet they still very much respect you. It's great seeing how much of an impact a single counselor can have on a group of campers. Also, I love all the counselor bonding that goes on during down time.
What's your hall theme?
Metcalf 2R, The Summer Yummies: sweet summer treats, like ice cream cones and watermelon.
If you were a camper at SEP, what's your favorite memory from being a camper?
Sadly, I was never a camper :(
O-hill or St. Anne's?
St. Annes all the way!! Have you seen the quality of the good? It's so fresh and "locally-grown", and the vegetables and entrees are awesome. They even had goat cheese one time. Ahhhmazing.
What's something about you that someone might not expect if they didn't know you well?
That I wasn't born here, but rather in Russia. Besides my give-away name, people are always surprised that I have no Russian accent -- in fact most people that I'm American. I've been a US citizen for almost a decade now, but I still connect to my Russian roots.
When you first started working here, what's something that surprised you?
How close I would get to the counselors in such a short period of time. We all make a really good team, which is based on solid friendship. Also, the exorbitant amount of sweating that goes on during the sweltering days.
Without using any camper names, tell us a funny story that happened so far this summer.
I was talking to a returning camper whom a lot of the counselors remember from last summer and who is quite gregarious and friendly. I mentioned that some of the counselors told me that she had gotten a lot taller over the year, and so she started wondering which counselors remembered her. When I didn't want to give away names, she just started listing a bunch of counselors, and smugly ended her spiel proudly stating, "Yeah, I'm pretty memorable!" It made me laugh; she's such an awesome camper.
What do you think is the most difficult part of the job?
Probably functioning on five or less hours of sleep per night -- it's been working so far, but sometimes I feel drained for a few minutes until I see my kids, and then they just raise me up and put me in such high spirits!
What do you know about gifted education?
I was actually in the Gifted and Talented program in elementary and middle school, and I enjoyed having a higher-intensity learning environment. Personally, I didn't really see myself as that different than the kids in the regular program, but now I appreciate that I was pushed to explore my learning boundaries. I still think that it's a great thing for the kids!
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