My Experience with Girls Remixed

I loved working the Girls Remixed Camp (so much so that I came back to help another day!).

Admittedly, I don’t have a lot of experience working with kids that age – or even kids In general -- but I really enjoyed the girls.  One thing I picked up on right away was the diversity of personalities, and I thought about how that would translate into a classroom setting.  I think there are different prototypes, and some I noticed were The Quiet Girl, The Smart Girl, The Ostracized Girl, The Dominant Girl, The Popular Girl.  I felt like I could relate to some of the girls more than others, especially the first night, when everyone had found a roommate but one girl (there was an odd number).  I just know how awful she probably felt.  Earlier in the night, she had kind of reached out to me and started telling me about her pets.  I think I related to her more than any of the others.

Another girl, while setting up her blog, told me she enjoyed photography.  She then pulled a little album from her bag and started flipping through the pictures – they were amazing!!!  I hope she had the opportunity to share them with the other girls at the camp and is given the chance to pursue photography in school.

As we were setting up the blogs, a couple of the girls really struggled to find a theme, and I tried to help them.  I found it difficult, though, to offer advice and suggestions without removing their autonomy from their work.  One girl in particular seemed stumped, and seemed worried that her ideas weren’t *right*.  I kept trying to stress to her that her ideas weren’t right or wrong, but my efforts seemed to no avail.  Even when she finally got her blog set up, it was difficult for her to write her first post – she kept writing then deleting, writing then deleting.  Not being experienced with kids in a classroom setting, I am not sure how this lack of confidence translates, but I really wonder if it is more of a “girl” than “boy”   phenomenon?

Don’t even get me started on the girls’ competency with technology.   (I have never used a Mac in my life, either)  They were all like “click-click-click!” and I was all like, “Uh, what is happening???”  Now I know how people of my parent’s generation feel!!  In some ways, I couldn’t help them at all, and I felt bad because so many of them asked me for help, and I had to send their questions to Jen or another volunteer.

Something else I noticed was how much the girls looked up to me and the other adults.  Even it wasn’t intentional, they were picking up on subtle cues.  Knowing this, I tried to be a positive role model – nothing drastic or disingenuous, but I tried not to make any self-deprecating comments (a horrible habit of mine). I remember in a summer camp that I participated in as a child that our leader, a science teacher at a local middle school, seemed very unhappy.  And one time, she even snapped at a camper for a minor infraction (embarrassing the girl greatly, it seemed).  And now, close to twenty years later, I still remember that woman, and her unhappiness.  Cliché as it sounds, I think many times we don’t realize how little things can affect the people around us.  Something I said or did, positive or negative, consciously or unconsciously, might rest in one of those girl’s psyches for many years to come.  I am not trying to sound too narcissistic, but it is something to consider.

Finally, a question that Jen asked the girls resonated with me.  At what point do girls become women, at least in their perception of themselves?  I ask this because, at (almost) 29, I still refer to women around my age as “girls”.  I don’t do it as a sign of disrespect, but just because I always thought “woman” referred to a female older than me.  Of course, when I am 55, I doubt I will still be saying girl to refer to peers, but … when does it change?  I suppose part of it has to do with the fact I am unmarried and don’t have kids, so although I am chronologically a woman, maybe I don’t truly see myself as one … I am not sure, but Jen’s question really made me think.

Hayley