Summer camp season is in full swing, which means that young adults nationwide are spending a week or two of their summer working as a camp counselor. While being a camp counselor has an endless list of rewarding benefits, the job isn't always easy and there are quite a few struggles that any camp counselor is bound to face during their time at camp.
1. Constant counting.
1, 2, 3... 2, 4, 6...where is my eighth camper? While being responsible for multiple children at a time, it is sometimes hard to keep track of all of them at once. Once it's time to gather your cabin, it always seems like at least one of your campers is missing. You find yourself counting heads almost constantly throughout the day just to ensure that one of your campers doesn't get lost.
2. Cabin trouble.
From a leaky roof to filthy showers, it's no secret that camp cabins are typically not a luxurious living facility. Not only do you have to manage living in the cabin yourself, but also convince your campers to accept and enjoy their stay in the cabin as well, no matter how bad the conditions.
3. Camp songs.
Once you sing a few of those catchy camp songs, they are guaranteed to be stuck in your head for at least the next few days. You might even return home and still be caught whistling or humming some camp tunes around the house or at work.
4. Sleep deprivation.
"Lights Out" is at 10:30 p.m. and "Rise and Shine" isn't until 7:15 a.m., so you should technically be getting almost nine-hours of sleep, but every camp counselor knows the challenge of trying to sleep in a cabin full of whispering campers. It feels as though the alarm goes off as soon as you fell asleep, and three to four hours of sleep is considered a good night.
5. Caffeine dependency.
Going right along with the sleep deprivation is depending heavily on caffeine to make it through the day. The campers better hope they don't say or do the wrong thing before you've got at least a few cups of coffee in you.
6. Constant questions.
What's for breakfast? What are we doing next? When do we go swimming? Do you know what's for dinner? Campers never seem to understand that even though you are in charge of them for the week, you don't know the answer to everything, and asking the same question multiple times is not going to change that.
7. Homesick campers.
You understand their pain because you know how easy it is to miss your home and family yourself, but when you have a cabin full of homesick campers it is hard to act the role of a mother or father to all of them at the same time to help calm them down.
8. Post-camp depression.
Despite all of the struggles of the week, once it comes time to leave, you realize how much you are going to miss it. As soon as you get home you instantly want to go back and do it all over again.
If you've ever been a camp counselor, you know your time at camp can be full of struggles, but you also know all of the rewards that come along with it. You made some lifelong friends among your fellow counselors, created countless fun memories and, most likely, allowed your campers to have a great week at camp. Any camp counselor would willingly accept all the struggles that the job entails if it meant we didn't have to wait an entire year to return back to camp to do it all over again, because, after all, everyone knows that camp is really for the counselors.
