A guide to finding your head or your heart

Sara: “Whoa!” My foot nearly caught on a tree stump as I ground to a halt. My campers and I were on a hiking trail three miles from our bus when a storm hit. As a thinker, I immediately began to analyze the different options. Should we forge ahead, hang tight, or turn back? Blocking my eyes from the wet sheets falling from the sky, I made a quick decision and turned back to my campers. “We’re going to have to return to the buses; the trail is way too slippery! Shoshana,” I called to my co-counselor. She shrugged wet hair out of her face. “Here’s the plan.”

The Takeaway:

When a slippery trail and a rainstorm hit a hiking trail, head counselor Sara uses her logic to come up with a plan to get her campers to safety.

Shoshana: When the storm hit, I saw Sara’s brain whirring to make a sound decision. My job? Well, I already felt the fear coming off my little ten-year-old campers.
“Shoshana, do you think there’s going to be lightning?”
“Aaah! What if it hits us?”

“If we slip on the muddy path, do you think Hatzalah would be able to find us?”

I easily offered words of reassurance on my way to join Sara. Sara always made logical decisions, and I was always there to listen, so we worked well together. “So,” she asked as I wrung my water-soaked skirt. “You like the plan?”

“Sounds great!” I told her honestly. “The only thing I would change is to break us up. I think the kids would feel safer in two smaller groups.”

“Great!” Sara agreed. “Let’s do it.”

The Takeaway:

When a slippery trail and a rainstorm hit a hiking trail, co-counselor Shoshana uses her empathy to make sure her campers feel safe and secure during this frightening time.