DEFY

One summer in college, I got suckered into volunteering as a camp counselor for a program called Drug Education For Youth (DEFY). A collaboration between a nonprofit and the police department, this was a summer camp for 3rd-6th graders focusing on drug education, character development, positive role model mentoring, and community outreach. The 9-12 year olds chosen for this program need the self-esteem to resist gangs, drugs, and alcohol.

DEFY was located at Camp Pendleton, a major Marine base in San Diego. Most of the other counselors were police officers or Navy personnel; I was the youngest and the only one still in school. I was also in charge of a bus of kids. Before we even left, I caught one kid threatening another with needles while the other was brandishing a glass bottle. I surprised myself by immediately disarming them with a harsh and severe attitude. These were fourth graders, and they had no business wielding sharp objects and threatening each other.

We all slept in a barracks, which was a pretty unique experience. Living on a military base was interesting. I had to make sure my kids were following all the rules: saying "Thank you ma'am" to the lady who served us lunch, removing hats before entering buildings, standing still during colors at dawn. I was amazed at the efficiency of the other counselors; every night, we got over 100 boys into and out of the showers in half an hour. We had classroom time to teach them about drugs, gangs, violence, and alcohol. We worked to build their self-esteem, discipline, and motivation. We rewarded them by demonstrating how K-9 attack dogs are trained, showing them amphibious military vehicles, and letting them go through fun obstacle courses. All in all, a fun time doing stuff that I probably won't ever do again.