Elisabeth Anderson spent the first 17 years of her life going to school. In fact, the 20-year-old Florida State University junior is still going to school. Yet, each summer for the past seven years, she has returned to the Rosarian Academy, her alma mater, not as a student, but as an assistant.
What is it that draws her to the school? It is the young children, who are led by her mother, Amy Anderson, and their adventures as campers attending the school’s Sensational Summer Fun (SSF) camps. For the past five years, Elisabeth returned as a volunteer and now, for the second year in a row, she is assisting in the pre-K classroom as a paid assistant.
“Working with kids helps with your patience,” Elisabeth said. “And, I get to relive so many of the happy memories I made when I went to school here. I still remember learning the President’s Song, the field days each year and a trip to Washington, D.C.”
Amy Anderson, a kindergarten assistant at Rosarian, agrees wholeheartedly with her daughter.
“I love having her here to assist with summer camp,” she said. “Like so many other parents with their children, I remember Elisabeth so vividly as a young girl here in the same classrooms and on the playground. This school truly helped form her into the amazing young woman she is today.”
Elisabeth is quick to smile as she shares stories of the children’s camp escapades.
“We have a different theme each week,” she explained. “My favorite was Knights and Princesses week, when one of the 3-year-old girls was acting out the movie Frozen. It was adorable to watch her sing ‘Let It Go’ while going through all of the motions from the movie scenes. It’s those kinds of things that make this camp so much fun.”
At FSU, Elisabeth is trending toward studies that will ultimately lead to a career as a criminal defense attorney. She will certainly need all the patience she has learned for that line of work.
ABOVE: Elisabeth Anderson with young camper Jacquelyn Rodriquez.
