This week is the most exciting week of the year! Well at least it would be if we weren’t in the middle of a pandemic. This year I should be in Atlantic City for my third tristate camp conference. Unfortunately this year it’s online, which clearly isn’t as fun as going down the shore with a bunch of camp people but not much is. But because it’s online this year it’s now the northeast region so there are a lot more sessions and I can go back and watch sessions that I didn’t go to. So in honor of conference week, I’m going to talk about why being a camp counselor made me a better version of myself.

I started working at camp during the summer of 2013. I was 16 years old and I had no idea what I was doing. Going with the flow was the name of the game. But this ultimately is how almost everything works. There are always things you can’t control. And when you’re working outside and with children, schedules are really just a suggestion. Being able to go with the flow is a skill I had to pick up fast and I use it all the time. If it starts to thunder or suddenly half of your kids don’t want to do the sleepout, you have to figure out your next move. And fast. When I was in college I found myself in a similar situation- not knowing what was going on and everything happening. Because I was able to go with the flow it made scheduling my life a lot easier.

Working at camp has made me a jack of all trades. Archery? Easy. Sailing? No problem! Need to make a fire? I got ya. Kid crying? Out of my way. (But please don’t ask me to weave a basket. I will defer. God I hate baskets.) Because of the nature of how my camp works, I could be placed in any number of programs every week. Sometimes it would be crafting or sometimes it would be survival skills. But whatever it was I had to teach it even if it was learning as I went. The more I did it and the longer I was there the better I got. I was almost never alone also. If I didn’t know the answers someone around me probably did.

Camp is basically trial by fire in the best way possible. Don’t know how to make a fire? Well guess what, you’re about to learn so we can eat dinner. This is not to say I’ve been alone in my trials because I haven’t. There has always been a helping hand and encouraging company to get me through everything. There’s always something new to learn. When I was 16 I learned how the kitchen works and how to make a cookout run smoothly. And when I was 22 I learned how the inner workings of emergency drills and got to read ~the insurance binder~. I started to be able to pick up new things and incredible speeds.

Now you might be wondering: what the h*ck is it that you do at a camp conference? The answer is SO MUCH. There are sessions on leadership, staff training, mental health, and games among other things. It’s where camps can get some really nice discounts on supplies and other things. Anything from tshirt printing to lice spray to giant inflatables that go in lakes (which every year I am told I am not allowed to purchase any with the camp credit card). I’ve gone to sessions where we brainstorm on how to create more inclusive spaces for campers. I’ve also gotten tackled in a game of extreme tag during a session. It really does help make camp a better place and it really is a fun time while we’re there. I’ve made new friends from other camps all over the country. 

As for summer 2021, no one knows what is going to happen. Maybe I’ll be at my usual resident camp. Maybe I’ll go to day camp. Maybe I’ll be home like I was last year (I might lose my mind if that happens again). Either way, I have learned so much from being a camp counselor and I’m lucky that I can use my camp skills in my daily life.