Sunday Snippet: The Career Minded Camp Counselor

Anyone who has worked at camp for a summer (or perhaps several) knows that being a camp counselor is a challenging, yet rewarding experience.  Yet, some who haven’t had the honor of working at camp see the camp job as trivial with no real impact on one’s eventual career choice.  How can playing in the woods prepare one for a ‘real’ job in the adult world.  Oh, let me count the ways!

Well, someone has actually already done that for us! In a piece entitled 13 Reasons Why Every Career-Driven Millennial Should Work At Camp For A Summer (January 25, 2016, Levo), The LaLa explores why the camp counselor experience is essential for becoming better prepared for a career after college.

“Regardless of what your major is and regardless of what your long term goals are,
every career-driven girl should spend at least one summer working for a camp.” (The Lala, Levo)

This is not the first time we have discussed the benefit of a summer camp experience as being as and if not more valuable than the over-emphasized internship. Working at camp provides first hand opportunities to learn a vast array of skills on many levels. If you are going to work with other people in a chosen career, camp counseling offers the chance to learn remarkable people and soft skills not readily acquired when you’re delivering coffee and snacks in a cubicle village.  Camp offers each staff member the chance to learn and improve social skills, to become an effective conflict manager, one’s ability to work with difficult and challenging people, to organize and lead a group in a variety of settings, to plan events and activities and be able to change those plans on the fly to adjust for changing conditions.

Well, let’s go back to The Lala and the 13 reasons to work at camp.  Here’s the list:

1. You get to be a role model.

For however long you have the opportunity to interact with the campers, you quickly become one of the coolest (and most influential) people in their lives. Camp counselors especially have the opportunity to impact campers because of the amount of time spent with their kids. True bonds can form when you least expect them to: at the high dive at the pool, at the top of the zip line, tubing on the lake, or in the cabin late at night when homesickness sets in.

2. You get to unplug. 

Among the woods and lakes, you might not find much Wi-Fi, but you’ll find plenty of nature just begging you to unplug and enjoy. Surrounding yourself with the
beauty of the great outdoors only helps with this. 

3. Crafts to the max.

Never tie-dyed a shirt before? No problem. Camp is a great time to learn (or perfect) tie-dying skills, tie thousands of tiny knots until your wrists are loaded with friendship bracelets, and make too many dream catchers. 

4. Boost your resume.

Through the experiences you have working for a camp, you will be able to proudly put on your resume that you not only survived a summer working for a camp but thrived in the environment as well. Here you can find 10 Reasons Why Businesses Should Hire Former Camp Counselors. What made the list? Former camp counselors are great communicators, life-long learners, leaders, team players, and creative thinkers, just to name a few.

5. You truly make a difference.

There are so many benefits to working at a camp, including making a difference. Check out The Camp Counselor vs. the Intern from a New York Times blog, here. 

“What I do there matters,” she insisted. In several conversations, she told us about helping a camper cope with her mother’s debilitating depression and comforting others whose parents were fighting or separating, about aiding 11- and 12-year-olds who were coming to terms with their sexuality, battling anorexia, confronting body fear. She talked about the many hours devoted to water-skiing lessons, about instilling the confidence needed by awkward, gawky, painfully self-conscious 8- and 9-year-olds to stay prone in the water, hold on to the rope, then rise up and stay on their feet as the boat pulled away. “What’s more important than that?” she asked.

I had no answer, because I couldn’t come up with anything more important.

6. Rock those chacos.

You get to rock the colorful chacos all summer, ending the summer with an awesome (terrible?) tan line.

7. Life-long friendships.

Within just a few days of arriving at camp for the beginning of the summer training sessions, you will meet some awesome people. Just think, your co-workers are some of the best, simply by them being there: they gave up their summer (just like you) to learn, grow, and impact others’ lives as well. Life-long friendships are bound to develop as you live and work alongside other college kids for three solid months.

8. Interview material.

After spending a summer at camp, you will surely find out some strengths and weaknesses for you to talk about in an interview, not to mention the crazy stories you can share

9. Peer networking.

Not all of your co-workers will be elementary education majors. In fact, you will meet a plethora of majors who have done the same thing you have: sought out a beyond-the-typical summer job. An awesome time to expand your peer networking to individuals from all over the country and from all walks of life.

10. Fresh air.

Believe it or not, the great outdoors can give you a sense of relaxation and recharge. Finding time to enjoy a more leisurely life by embracing the early sunrise and sitting up late under a sky full of stars can do more for you than you might have ever imagined. A little dirt never hurt anyone, right? 

11. You get paid to be crazy.

Now, our definitions of crazy may be different, but as a staff member for a camp, you get to participate in Wacky Wednesday, dress up crazy for skits, be the leader in the daily dance party, and genuinely show your campers how to have a good time.

12. You hone your leadership skills. 

There are plenty of opportunities to improve your leadership skills by working for a camp because, at one point or another, you will be asked to lead. Whether you are leading other staff members or a handful of campers, you will be looked up to for direction and wisdom.

13. You will learn so much about yourself.

As awesome as camp life is, it also is challenging. You may not know how to deal with a situation with a camper, your co-counselor for the week might not be the most compatible with your sense of humor, and some days might seem like they drag on forever—is it lights out yet?! However, it is moments like these where your true colors shine. You will learn so much about yourself and, at the end of the summer, will be able to look back and be proud of all that you made it through.

The camp life is a culture.  But it is a culture that transfers well into so many settings. If we can make the world a bit more camp like, it is probably a good thing! More and more employers are discovering that those with camp experience are significantly more well-rounded and ready to tackle new adventures.  So don’t underestimate the camp counseling experience. Yes, it will be a profound experience for you personally, but it can help make your resume impressive, too! Happy Valentine’s Day and have a great week everyone!