Being from the tropical country of Puerto Rico, Paola never dreamed that she would end up in the wilds of Alaska. It’s just so out there, Paola says. It’s one of those places that you’re never going to go to because it’s so far away.

But when the recruiting team from the Alaska conference came to Walla Walla University (Wash.), looking for summer camp staff, Paola decided to check them out. She was hired, and that summer she found herself lifeguarding on the shores of Lake Aleknagik at Camp Polaris.

It was nothing like I expected, Paola admits. I pictured snow and igloos, but it was gorgeous and green!

In addition to the natural beauty, Paola experienced other surprises. During orientation, staff were warned that bears frequented the camp. We were instructed that these bears aren’t like Yogi Bear [a friendly children’s cartoon character], Paola remembers. But even though we were warned, a lot of us were still thinking, it’s just a bear.

One day Paola noticed a bear coming into camp. Wanting a picture, she quickly grabbed her camera and looked down as she walked toward the lake. Looking up, she suddenly froze– directly in front of her was a Grizzly bear!

Everything stopped. I couldn’t hear anything. Everyone else was in the lodge; no one could see me. The bear was frozen too. The only thought I had was– This isn’t Yogi!

Suddenly, the Grizzly headed toward a garbage container, and Paola moved quickly back into the lodge. Sometimes you don’t know how bad something is until you come face to face with it,she says.

Working at the camp opened her eyes in many ways, admits Paulo. I realized that I’m not a kid anymore. These are the kids now, and I needed to take care of them.

Sometimes Paulo found drawing the line of authority challenging. When there were issues, I learned to maneuver around the child, not making them feel unwelcome or inferior, but working with them in a way so they could see they needed to stop their tantrum and come back with the others who were having fun.

“There had to be a certain amount of respect going on so that they would know you were the authority, but would still feel comfortable coming to you if they had any problems–especially spiritually. At Camp Polaris, there is a spiritual aspect to everything.

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