Summer has ARRIVED and there is so much celebration. Different people see summer in different ways. For most High Schoolers I know summer means not quite three months of sweet, sweet freedom before you are sent back to the confines of whatever public or private institution you are kept inside of for 180 days out of the year. For the university students I know, summer means you have three months to make as much money as you possibly can so that during the school year you have more than $3 in your checking account when you need to buy groceries, while also trying to see friends and family and lay on the beach some because who comes back from summer without at least one story. For the grown adults who have degrees and real jobs and a family to support summer is just wildly stressful because there are more people in the house for a greater amount of time and they all want to go and do fun summer things.

A lot of people, especially university students, get a job for the three months of summer. Some work in retail, some in food services, some nanny, but truth be told I know a ridiculous number of people who work at camps. Being a person who works at a camp during the summer, I feel like I can speak to it a bit, so without further ado, here are “12 ways to spot a Camp Employee”.

1. If someone is wearing a Patagonia fleece (and call it their “patty”) or an LLBean rain jacket/windbreaker, they are probably a camp employee.
2. If they carry a backpack everywhere all the time even if it’s totally unnecessary, they are probably a camp employee.
3. If they own chacos or birks and only wear those and no other shoes, they are probably a camp employee.
4. If they have a nalgene water bottle covered in bumper stickers from all of the places they’ve been and inspirational quotes they live by, they are probably a camp employee.
5. If you ask them for a carabiner and their response is “I have one here somewhere” and produce multiple for you to choose from, they are probably a camp employee.
6. If you ask them what they did with their day off and the answer was hiking or rock climbing or boating (of sorts) or camping, they are probably a camp employee.
7. If they know what you mean when you ask how many high peaks they’ve hiked, they are probably a camp employee.
8. If they have a lot of campfire stories, they are probably a camp employee.
9. If they have at least one awkwardly funny story involving an eno (an eno is a brand of hammock), they are probably a camp employee.
10. If they have wild story involving a waterfall, they are probably a camp employee.
11. If they’ve had a least one really short summer fling that escalated extremely quickly and ended when the summer did, they are probably a camp employee.
12. If their fondest memories involve sunsets and nature and their co-workers, they are probably a camp employee.

I can’t wait to be back up at the camp I work at for another summer. The place and the people mean the world to me, and I wouldn’t trade the experiences I’ve had there for anything. Shout out to my camp babes, much love to you!