Summer is great for college students. Not just if it’s a break from school or the chance to catch up with old friends but it gives students a chance to either get an internship or a job. Both of these allow students to network and gain some experience. Whether you’re interning at a law firm or working at a store you are still building your resume and you are starting somewhere. While many of my friends this year have chosen to intern at fantastic places or studying abroad I have chosen to return to the summer camp named Ramah Darom. One of the reasons I chose to do this after my junior year is because of the seclusion. This camp is located in the mountains and 30 minutes away from the town of Clayton. Ramah has the intention of getting campers and counselors to put down their electronics and interact with nature and each other. Yes, I miss being able to know what is going on in the world but when I am at Ramah, I can be in my own world and not focus on everything that is going on such as celebrities news or things I would normally worry about.

Being secluded from the rest of society might be a little difficult. Last year when the shooting at the club in Orlando was broadcasted to the world I was beginning the first week of camp. The only reason I heard about the event was one of the staff members had just come from Orlando a few days earlier. While I do have access to my computer and internet, they are the things furthest from my mind. Working at camp gives me more skills that I thought I never would obtain and I am ok with finding out some events later if it means getting to be with friends and to grow as an individual.

Each year when I have told people my summer plans and I mention Ramah, many of them ask why I don’t get an internship. Recently my boss posted an article about why being a camp counselor is better than being an intern in an office. One of the statements was while you are a camp counselor you learn qualities and things that will help for a future such as how to manage your time, working under pressure and creating programs and presentations for an audience. As a counselor and now department head at Ramah I have learned how to work under pressure and how to present things to my bosses.

I know that sometime soon my time at this camp will end because everything does come to an end, but I can look at my time at Ramah and think about how it helped me change from a nervous wreck to someone who knows how to handle stress and discuss important information with my superiors. Camp has given me many qualities and the ability to grow and become adaptable for my future and I owe so much to my bosses at Ramah. I know that I will need to say goodbye to the seclusion and have to learn how to work with a million things going on whether it applies to me or not but what I do know is that Ramah is responsible for shaping me into the worker I am today.