When senior Heather Phillips arrives at Ball Gym around 6 a.m. every weekday during the summer for Cardinal Kids Camp, she finds it hard to function.
But when she sees the local elementary- and middle-school children enter through the doors, she suddenly forgets what time it is.
"It wakes you up to see them in the morning," Phillips said.
Phillips, an education major, has been a counselor for Ball State's 10-week children's summer camp for the past two years and plans to work there again this year. To her, the camp is more than just a daycare. It is a passion.
"The children and staff interact in so many numerous activities, educational and recreational," Phillips said. "The job itself is so rewarding, just to see a child who passed their swimming test or made a home run for the first time."
Phillips, who will work with 27 other Ball State counselors this summer, usually works around 40 hours a week when not taking classes. She said her favorite part of the job is serving as a role model for the 150 children who are there each week.
"I still have children come up to me at a restaurant or the mall and want to say hi all year long," Phillips said. "Their parents tell me that they just had to come say hi when they saw me. It makes me just feel like I have made a difference."
The Cardinal Kids Camp, which has been in operation for 10 years, is open to Muncie children in kindergarten to eighth grade. Children of Ball State faculty also participate, said Jim Jamriska, graduate assistant for Youth and Family Programs and camp coordinator.
Jamriska said Phillips and the other counselors are required to learn CPR and first aid once hired. They are also responsible for coming up with activities for each of the camp's six programs.
In Crazy Combo, counselors and children come together to decide what games they want to play. The Outdoor Program allows counselors to teach children about nature, how to recycle paper and how to set up a tent.
In the Sports and Games Program, children play both traditional and nontraditional sports, including crab soccer, racquetball and volleyball. The Arts and Crafts Program allows children to be creative and bring their artistic talents to light, Jamriska said.
Children frequent Ball Pool during the Swimming Program, and in Games Craze they play mind games and word puzzles and even perform scientific experiments, such as keeping an egg from breaking as it falls from the second floor of Ball Gym.
Since Phillips began the job in 2002, she said she has enjoyed the activities, especially those created for Water Week in June and July.
"Water Week is devoted to all water games and pretty much hanging out in your swimsuit all week long," Phillips said. "If you walk through the Quad that week, you better be prepared to dodge some water balloons and Super Soakers."
While the job keeps her from going home to LaPorte during the summer, Phillips said the job is worthwhile. She has not only become good friends with other counselors, but she has also gained valuable experience for her future career.
"Personally, I was a secondary education major and through working at Cardinal Kids Camp decided I was more comfortable and enjoyed the younger ages better," Phillips said. "Going into my senior year here at Ball State I changed my major to elementary education."
Jamriska, who has worked at the camp for three years, will complete his final summer at the camp this year. He said he has enjoyed working with all of the counselors.
A lot of responsibility and liability comes along with the job, but all counselors have done a wonderful job, Jamriska said.
"The children see the counselors as teachers, and in fact, some of the children call the counselors teachers," he said. "There's lot of respect that campers do give the counselors, and the counselors do very well with that."
To Jamriska and Phillips, the experience has been fun and life-changing for both them and the children.
"We make every child feel important and like they are part of something special," Phillips said.
"It's the hardest fun you'll ever have," Jamriska said.
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