Anyone who has experienced summer camp knows exactly how life-changing it can be.
Growing up going to summer camp, it was easily the most anticipated week of the summer. Seeing old friends, getting new patches, spending countless hours out on the lake, staying up all night whispering in our cabins, seeing who our counselor would be that year; there was nothing bad when it came to summer camp. When summer camp becomes your life, though, it is so much more than just an “anticipated week of the summer.”
Summer has just begun, which for me usually means working at camp, but not this year. This summer will be the first summer in a long time that I am not working at my favorite place on earth: Lake Geneva Youth Camp.
To say the least, camp has been on my mind quite a bit. I not only worked at camp, I also was lucky enough to have lived there.
Early on in high school, my dad told us that he had accepted a position working at a summer camp, one I had just started working at as a lifeguard, but still did not know much about. My dad had always worked in the business world, so this seemed somewhat out of the ordinary for him. I knew he had always wanted to be in a position that was more meaningful, but working for a summer camp had never crossed my mind.
If I am being honest, I did not love the idea right away. The uncertainty of how much this move would change my life and my family's lives made me extremely nervous. My dad had not just gotten a new job, but he had chosen a new life. We would be moving onto the camp and living there year round. So a total change.
I learned so much from that first summer of being a “camp kid,” as they called us, and I found out that everything I learned was well worth going through all of the change.
Camp is more than just a job, it’s a lifestyle.
Our first summer at camp was hands down the best summer of my entire life. My dad hired a smaller staff, some of which I knew before the summer, and some were entirely new. Within a matter of weeks, these people became like family. I was used to summers spent entirely with my family, going to the beach, having picnics, going off camping with family friends, but this summer was all about camp. It was a family effort; we all worked morning until night, helping out groups and campers, running the snack shop, painting buildings that were long overdue for a touchup and bonding with the rest of the staff. Even though we lived at the camp year round, my siblings and I felt as though we were a part of the staff too. We even had beds in the staff housing! Our life was entirely different; camp became a part of who we were individually and as a family.
Those who work at camp have an entirely different passion for life and helping others.
I learned that people who work at camp have a passion for life unlike anyone else. It takes a different kind of person to be willing to give up an entire summer to serve at camp. A summer at camp comes with endless struggles, unforgettable memories, life-long friendships and a set of skills unlike any other regular “job.” The people that I have seen work at camp love The Lord, and love those they are serving in a way that is more sacrificial than I have seen anywhere else. I had the opportunity to learn and grow from these people, which I would never trade for anything.
I have learned to appreciate working as part of a team.
Working at camp, there is no way anything could be done on our own. When someone needs help, there is no hesitation to pitch in. I can recall numerous days where there was no way we would have finished what needed to get done for the incoming campers, if we had not worked as a team. I learned to value those who were around me, recognize their strengths and appreciate them for who they were as more than just a co-worker.
While at camp, the entire rest of the world becomes a blur.
I often felt as though my time at camp was spent in a bubble. When the school year would come around again, I would forget that there was more to life than the groups that came to camp and the staff I had the opportunity to work with. My senior year especially, I wanted more than anything to spend all of my days at camp, helping out with whatever group was there at the time. I loved camp, without a doubt, more than any other place I could be.
You never leave a summer of camp the same, it stays with you forever.
Camp is a place where people encounter God, find themselves and grow into who they are meant to be. I could not name one person who has not learned a thing or two about themselves while being at camp, and I can name numerous people who have been entirely changed by spending a summer at camp. Leaving camp my senior year was by far one of the most emotionally difficult things I have ever experienced, but I learned to truly appreciate all that I had learned at camp and the memories I made there. Camp will always hold a special place in my heart.
At the beginning, I really did not realize how much of an impact moving to camp would have on my life, but I am so grateful for it now. Lake Geneva Youth Camp definitely had a large part in making me who I am today, and I know that anyone else who has the same opportunity that I had would be changed by it as well.