Ann Morgan (VG ’22) interviewed Kaylee Kooyman (OAL '24) to learn more about her role as a Fellow, the challenges and joys she’s found in her time this school year at HoneyRock.
Ann: What originally drew you to being a Fellow?
Kaylee: I knew HoneyRock and I knew that they had this program. I was asked if I was going to apply for the OAL (Outdoor Adventure Leadership graduate program) at HoneyRock, and said “No, I don’t feel at peace about that yet. It’s possibly on the table.” But I was talking to Kayle Thacker (OAL '22), who recently graduated from the OAL program, and she asked if I’d ever heard of the Fellows Program. She said, “It’s kind of like a gap year for college students. You get to work with students and get to be in relational ministry.” And since that was similar to what I had majored in and what I really enjoy doing ... I thought a year where I was working and making money while also getting to practice something that I enjoy so much was really enticing to me. Getting to live in a community coming out of college and step into a place that was familiar to me, but had new challenges sounded really fun to me.
A: What is it like being a Fellow?
K: It’s a very engaged and fun process. I get to work with a lot of people of all different ages because we get to work very closely with our work supervisors who are sometimes graduate students and also professional staff, but then we also get to live with and share meals with you (the Vanguards). We also get to do one-on-ones, go on the trips and adventures, and just share everyday life with the Vanguards.
Being a Fellow is a very all-inclusive kind of job and we get to have a lot of one-on-one and group relational experience. My job (specifically) as a Fellow is a little bit of a dichotomy because I work in the Beehive (camp store and cafe) a lot, so I get not only the work area experience, but I also get the programmatic experience, which is a lot of planning for the Vanguards’ classes and events, and different trip things and different excursions we do and things around camp. So, there’s lots of organizational and relational-type work. I thrive in those types of atmospheres, so I really love getting to engage.
To be a Fellow, you really have to care about people and you have to be willing to work on caring about people.