Do you love kids, being outdoors, and making a complete fool of yourself in front of a bunch of people? Add all of this up, and you have the profession of camp counselor. However, before you take that "dream summer job," heed this advice.
1. Be prepared to be a ball magnet.
If you play dodgeball—which you will have to as a camp counselor—get ready to get hit in the face the entire game by your campers. They will think it’s so much more fun to hit you instead of each other.
So maybe spend the days leading up to the first day of camp practicing for this. Make your friends throw random items at your face so you can build up immunity instead of being like me, and just stop playing out of fear of getting a concussion.
2. Don’t get involved romantically with other counselors.
If your camp doesn’t actually have a written rule on this, make a rule for yourself. You spend hours every day with these people and if anything goes wrong, everybody will know about it, and fast.
Campers are also smarter than you think. Give a guy one look and you will get endless questions about whether you’re dating or not, even if you just speak one time. Trust me, they already think you all date each other. Don’t actually do it.
3. You will see weird and random injuries.
I had a girl break her ankle playing sharks and minnows. Seriously. She just ran into a wall and fell and it broke. I still don’t understand it. Another girl picked up a pair of scissors the wrong way and sliced her hand open and dripped blood all over my binder. Just be prepared to see a lot of blood, and maybe even some broken bones.
4. Get ready for the weirdest tan of your life.
Chances are your uniform consists of athletic shorts and a t-shirt. You WILL have a farmer's tan, no matter how hard you try to consistently keep your sleeves rolled up. You WILL have a deep sneaker tan when you wear sandals, and you WILL have a pale stomach when you wear a bathing suit. It’s inevitable. Get a good self tanner if you’re really worried, or just rock the tan lines the best you can.
5. Get ready to smell nothing but bug spray and sunblock all day long.
Also learn how to liberally apply these, and quickly. Parents load their kids up on these (for a good reason), and the kids probably re-apply them during the day. If you help them, you want to get it done fast. Give yourself a training session on the quickest way to do this, and maybe advise campers to get the spray sunblock, because it’s a million times faster.
6. If you’re dealing with middle schoolers, get ready for their relationship drama.
Middle school is the age when kids start noticing each other and develop crushes. We all did it, but it can become tedious to listen to all day long. They might even cry over each other, and you need to know how to handle it.
Sometimes they do really like each other and it can be the cutest thing you’ll see all summer, but other times it can go totally wrong. Just tell them that it’s not worth it, and to just focus on school.
7. Get a good pair of sunglasses.
Not only will they block out the sun, but they will also prevent campers from seeing just how tired you are every morning without your daily coffee. You might get a nasty tan line like I said, but trust me, it’s worth it!
8. Have an arsenal of icebreakers, team builders, and games up your sleeve.
There will be plenty of downtime throughout the day, so be prepared! Some of my favorites are SPUD, Wonderball, and whatever that icebreaker is called when you give yourself a food that starts with the first letter of your name (I am forever Kit Kat Kaitlyn). Google these and remember them. Also learn some card games, like spit, spoons, or crazy eight’s for the rainy days.
9. Have fun with it. Seriously.
Yes, it’s a job. But, it’s camp. More often than not, you're included in the activities your campers are doing and you get to play. How many people get paid to play all summer?
Even though there is actual work you have to do, the majority of your day is spent trying to engage your campers, and the best way to do that is by doing the activities with them. They will have so much more fun this way, and you get to relive your childhood.
