It was over Christmas break of my freshman year of college that I hatched the idea to spend my summer being a camp counselor. Props to 18-year-old me because that was a really solid decision. It was the perfect summer to have a decent buffer between “sit at home and eat potato chips” and “professional internship.” It looks just good enough on a resume and it’s a blast. Here are the most 20 notable things I learned:

1. Patience is a virtue: that said, impatient 12-year-olds will test you more than anything else you’ve experienced in your entire life and it’s actually your job to be patient.
2. Meals means something different at camp: that something is walking to get more food every 5 minutes for 40 minutes straight. Chewing and walking become synonymous with each other and the tray never gets easier to carry.
3. The bugle will haunt your dreams: you hear the bugle instead of your inner voice, insanity creeps up on you, and then you realize it’s actually the bugle which seems to blow constantly.
4. Names are everything: if you don’t know Layla from Antlers bunk at first, you will eventually. Every camper knows you by the end, and it’s your job to know all campers, not just the ones in your bunk.
5. Socials are more than everything: burning curly hair to a crisp and glitter eye shadow are essential to impressing the grimy boys who will end up casting a preteen love spell on the hormonal preteen girls. Logic right?
6. Friendship bracelets are essential to actual friendship: how will you know if people like you? This is counted in friendship bracelets. Also, logic.
7. It’s important to love campfires with smores: campfires with smores are 100 times better than the campfires with no smores. Obviously, you need to eat about 6 since you can’t anticipate when the next smores campfire will be.
8. Nights off make some of the best memories: of course, the kids are why you’re there but the nights off make for the best vent sessions with other counselors.
9. Relationships made at camp will be some of the most genuine connections you’ll make: you get so close, so quickly. No cell phones mean actually having to meet people.
10. No technology is a blessing in disguise: getting to unplug from the real world is so therapeutic, it should be mandatory to take phone breaks in reality.
11. Chants and cheers become second nature: my short-lived cheerleading career came back to haunt me, there was certainly no escaping the many hours I spent yelling.
12. Days off mean getting creative: having exactly 5 seats in the car, 28 hours, and exactly $21 means a crafty day trip and some sort of adventure you can’t tell your campers about.
13. The tan lines are so real: it’s November and no lie, it still looks like I’m wearing a bathing suit. But the tan was also so real. Trade-offs people.
14. Becoming a morning person is essential: the bugle was at 7:20 but the best part of the day is already done, getting up before the campers to hang out with other counselors and watch the sunrise made some of the best memories all summer.
15. It will be a difficult experience at times, but it will also be so worth it and you will think about it every day after.

Regardless of the camp or program, I would recommend camp to anyone. It’s an awesome learning experience and will make for an incredible and unforgettable summer. Also, you get to wear sweat clothes all summer. Cheers to that.