This last week of Eureka camp was a lot more challenging than I was expecting. Since the last week was upon us I felt the need to reflect further than I had at the beginning. Upon this reflection, I questioned if I had made a difference with any of the campers. Had I connected with any of them on a personal level? No. Had any of them asked me for help explicitly? No. The answers to these questions bothered me. I also thought that for a little bit that Girls Inc. did not need us at all to put on this camp. They led the majority of the sessions, and I think they could have led all of the ones we did ourselves. For the majority of the week, I felt that I had made no impact. In some ways, I still feel that way.
However, writing this now I remember all of the things I have done that may have had an impact unbeknownst to me. I always responded to the questions and check-ins in the chat. I responded so often in the chat or out loud that I felt like I was a camper myself. I also answered some of the girls’ questions in the chat, hyped up some of the girls, and tried to be as engaged as possible. Maybe my many chat responses inspired one of the girls to respond? I led a session on CSS with a fellow DukeEngager. We had a small setback right in the middle, but it turned out alright; once we were done presenting, the girls were really engaged and asking lots of questions. At our last online synchronous event, the Girls Inc staff leading Eureka also sang lyrics of a good 4 u parody that I and my fellow DukeEngagers came up with. The Eureka girls seemed to really enjoy the parody. When I think about these small things I did, I feel like I did make an impact because no one else would have led the presentation or thought of parody lyrics in the exact same way that I did. Even if these contributions were not enough for me to believe in my impact, I would know that as a whole DukeEngage OC made an impact on these amazing girls. I really enjoyed my time with the Eureka staff and girls. It was amazing seeing what middle schoolers and high schoolers do these days and it gave me hope for the future. These girls are talented, smart, and brave beyond belief and I look forward to seeing what they accomplish when they are unleashed on the world. Better watch out because they are brilliant!