My Summer Staff Experience: Mya

My name is Mya Slakey and I worked as Activities Staff at Black Diamond Camp in 2019! While in this role, I helped facilitate the high ropes activities we have here at Camp, which also meant ensuring safety and a fun time for the campers.

I grew up going to camps, so when I needed outdoor recreation & adventure experience hours for my college degree, I knew I wanted those hours to take place at a camp in a cool state (I’m originally from Indiana… so you can see how the trees, ocean, and mountains of Washington were a huge draw for me)!

The challenging part of this job was getting used to being 40 feet in the air for a few hours at a time. However, the rewarding feelings this job brought to my life definitely outweighed the initial fear of heights I had.

Seeing kids conquer their fears, their hesitations, and overcoming them with encouragement from myself, as well as their fellow camper friends, made the long summer days totally worth it. It was incredible to see a camper with a smile feeling so proud of themselves for completing the Zip-line after two days of being too nervous to even give it a try.

Some of my most memorable moments were when campers would ask me to say a prayer with them before they did an activity, and this always reminded me this is what camp life and ministry work is all about!

 – Mya Slakey, Business Development Specialist