Summer Camp Counselor - It Doesn't Get Any More "Real" Than That!

I can’t tell you how many great staff or potential staff we’ve lost over the years as they feel, or are pressured to feel, they need to “get a real job”. I’m here to tell you, as I’m sure anyone who ever worked at camp would as well, it doesn’t get more “real” than working at camp. Sure, there are a LOT of benefits to a camp job! You get to be outdoors, you get to work with fun people your age, it’s a very casual work environment where you get to express yourself, you make memories and friendships that last a lifetime, and the list goes on. The days, though, are much longer and more difficult than you might imagine.

Picture this:

You’re sound asleep in your cozy sleeping bag when the wake up call is made at 7am. You’ve got 20-30 minutes to get yourself and your group of 10 campers up, dressed and ready for the day. If you’re lucky, you’ve got another counselor or a teen leader helping out, but even then it’s no small task. Now, just as you get ready to head down to flag raising you catch a whiff of…could it be…not again…someone had an accident in their bunk. It happens, it’s OK, only now you’ve got to find a way to get your kids where they are supposed to be for the start of the day, and in super stealth mode find the sleeping bag & clothes in question, get them all into the laundry, clean the bunk and get everything replaced without letting any of the other campers know. And the directors don’t schedule you for “clean up the sleeping bag time” so you’re creating time where none exists.

It’s time for breakfast but one of your kiddos just can’t stand what’s on the menu today, so now they’re in tears and you spend your mealtime coaxing them to try a little something to get some nourishment while you forego yours. After breakfast you heard your cats, I mean campers, to camp and cabin clean up and try to motivate them to clean their bunks and their assigned area of camp – silently thinking ‘please let us not have bathroom clean up duty again!’.

Up next are choice activity periods and you’re leading water aerobics followed by a nature hike in the woods. The two locations for these activities couldn’t be further apart. It’s 11am and your 10,000 steps celebration is already going off on your smart watch.

Finally, you get an off period and you collapse onto the couch in the staff lounge with a couple of other staff…until you realize you’ve got to go get that sleeping bag out of the drier and up onto the bunk before the kids are back at the cabin. Up you go to finish that mission, leaving just 30 minutes of your hour break left. At least you’ll get another bit of a break during rest time after lunch. Except today one of your kiddos is feeling pretty homesick and tearful and you spend most of the rest time helping them write a letter home and focus on the fun activities coming up.

Afternoon activities begin and you’re scheduled for kickball on the sports field and it’s 90 degrees out, but fortunately that's followed by another off period. You rest a little before you go get supplies ready for your super cool cabin activity you came up with last night after bedtime. Cabin activity goes well until one of your kiddos takes a tumble and is now bleeding while another camper is freaked out by the sight of blood. Thankfully the medic comes along to help, but you’ve lost 20 minutes of the activity and the kids are totally distracted. You get them focused and they finish up and have a great time.

Today, though, everyone wants to play ping pong so you organize a game of around-the-world so everyone can play. Time for dinner and everyone likes the menu so you take a little time to go around and have everyone share something they are grateful for while you scarf down some food – you didn’t realize you were starving! Your cabin is up for dishes so you hustle your group along as best you can so you can get out and get started so you aren’t late for evening activity. Tonight is new games and you’re co-leading.

After new games it’s time for campfire. You’ve worked up a fun song to do on stage with your homesick camper to help them feel more a part of the camp, and it goes great! As the evening winds down, so do your campers. In fact, one has completely fallen asleep and you’ve got to find a way to get them back up to your cabin for reflections and bedtime after a stop at the medic for bedtime meds. How is it already 9pm?

By some miracle you get your kiddos to all brush their teeth and lead them through a little reflection on their day before getting them pretty successfully into bed. You check in with your homesick camper and they are a little sad but doing much better than the previous night. Maybe they’re going to make it! You take a few minutes on your bunk before heading down for a little time with your staff friends and head back to bed in time for curfew at midnight. Gotta get some sleep so you can do it all again tomorrow. And for the rest of the week. And for the next 8 weeks.

Sound easy? Not by any stretch of the imagination. And if you’re reading this and thinking “she’s trying to convince people to do this job???” – yes – please stay with me. Let’s take a quick inventory of the skills you developed in just this one day. You were able to practice your leadership skills as you organized your group getting ready for the day. You displayed empathy finding a way to resolve a bedwetting situation with respect and discretion. Your listening and communication skills got a little exercise as you made sure your camper got nourishment, and you got some exercise as well. You showed creativity in creating a new cabin activity, adaptability and problem solving when you came up with a way for everyone to play ping pong, teamwork as your cabin did the dishes and collaboration as you co-lead the evening activity. In helping your homesick camper feel more comfortable you demonstrated skills that show you are a true youth development professional.

And this was all in one day. Over the course of the summer you’ll gain enough of these experiences to become expert at them. You’re building a list of skills and expertise that will make your resume shine and you’ve got specific examples to back it up. There isn’t an employer in the world who wouldn’t seriously consider someone with this level of critical skills. There's even free resource on the American Camp Association website that helps you translate your camp skills to your resume and a great article from psychologist, educator and camp expert, Dr. Chris Thurber with more tips.

Also, for as many times as I’ve heard the “it’s not a real job” argument, I’ve just as frequently heard from staff who have moved into professions – whether working with kids or not - as they shared that they are so much more prepared and successful because of their work at camp. Time and again, past staff have reached out to share how grateful they are for everything they learned at camp and specifically how it’s benefited them at work. Camp prepares you for work, and for life, in a way that is difficult to describe, but is also undisputed by anyone who has experienced being on camp staff. It also impacts your life in a way that is difficult to describe. There is something that happens when you are focused on others, when you are doing some of the hardest yet some of the most rewarding work you’ve ever done, that makes a lasting impact on who you are. We often talk about how camp changes campers lives for the better. It’s safe to say it does the same, or maybe even more so, for staff.

So, if you, or young adults in your life, are looking for work to build experience that will build your or their resume and skill set, look no further than camp. We often refer to camp jobs as “the toughest job you’ll ever love” and I think that sums it up well. It simply doesn’t get more real than this. So, who’s ready to work at camp this summer? (seriously, send me a message at bria@ready2imagine.com, I'm hiring!)