al-Azhar Camp

Counselor

Calgary, Canada
2015

This was my first experience as a camp counselor (as a hopeful applicant of the Institute of Ismaili Studies Secondary Teacher Education Program). My responsibilities included overall supervision of participants, running creative activities, and working with STEP teachers to deliver educational content. I had already been a primary Bait ul-Ilm teacher leading up to this, but I discovered a whole new environment, and a whole new way of teaching through overnight camps. Participants have a completely different mentality than students in a classroom, and I learned how to play off their energy to build excitement and engagement.

In addition to normal counselor duties, I also spent some time connecting with some participants in small groups, listening to concerns they had about their religion and their lives. I was quickly and naturally able to create a safe space for these participants to be able to share openly and honestly. And their relationships with each other grew stronger because of it. I’ve been able to carry on these lessons into the classroom (to a certain extent) but mostly to the other camps that I’ve worked in.