Fellows: Kaylee's Story

Q&A with a Fellow

Por HoneyRock Center for Leadership Development

10 de May de 2022

Meet Kaylee, a Fellow at HoneyRock.

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.

A: What would you say is the best thing about being a Fellow?

K: There are a lot of things; I don’t know if I could name just one. I think one would be just getting to have the relationships with you (the Vanguards); I would say that’s probably the most important and rewarding thing.

When we first met the Vanguards, we don’t know them, and then we get to spend seven months with them and really get to know their hearts and personalities and the unique, beautiful qualities about each and every one of them. And because we’re with them in the day-to-day, we get to see all of it, which I think is the beautiful part of living in community – it can be the hardest part, too – but it can be really glorious to see the different growth and also all the exciting things the Vanguards get to do. Just to get to walk alongside the gap year students ... that’s my favorite part about being a Fellow.

And because I have the double-sided job, I get to see all different sides. Working in the Beehive (camp store and cafe), for example, I get to see people learn to make coffee and use their customer service skills and hospitality, just bringing people in and forming and creating that space. It's been a real highlight to see how the Adventure Track Vanguards have done that.

A: What would you say is the most challenging part of being a Fellow?

K: I think it’s different for every Fellow, just based on personality; what you enjoy, lean into, or thrive in more. I think for me, the most challenging part is the nature of living in such a small community. While I think it’s an advantage, it’s also sometimes difficult because I tend to be a person who listens. I love listening and hearing other people’s stories, but the nature of holding those stories and then walking with people and the hard things they’re going through can just sometimes be emotionally taxing because I tend to take so much on, but I think that’s the beauty of what I’m learning this year. I’m learning how I can lay that at the Lord’s feet and give it to Jesus so I’m not holding everyone else’s stories. I’m here to listen and support and care and walk with them, but it’s not my burden to carry. I think that’s a challenge I’ve been working through - how to do that well.

A: What is your favorite part about working at HoneyRock?

K: I love the experiential nature of it. A lot of what I do in the Beehive is on the computer, ordering merchandise and things like that, and I know what the experience of those shirts for campers is going to be, or how they’ll come in and buy their favorite Chips Galore sandwich - things like that. I think my most favorite part, though, is the relational aspect of getting to work with people in community and live in that community as well. I think it’s an all-encompassing thing, and in my experience there’s no place like HoneyRock that specifically works in this way. I think that’s truly the most special part of getting to see and do and live life together.

As Fellows, we're with them [Vanguards] in the day-to-day, we get to see all of it, which I think is the beautiful part of living in community – it can be the hardest part, too – but it can be really glorious to see the different growth...