Do it. Summer camp brochures advertise to children and families: colorful photos of laughing preteens, campfires, swimming pools, and new friendships woven with each passing day. Between those photos, however, something magical happens. Camp is a magical place in itself, but there are people behind the magic; behind every picturesque campfire was a counselor who got down in the dirt and fanned it laboriously with a clipboard until it caught ablaze.
Do not get me wrong, being a cabin counselor is the most exhausting thing I have ever done. Despite the reliability of a trusty co-counselor to lean on, handing an 18-year-old nine 12-year-olds and then letting time run its course is a test of physical, mental, and emotional strength and stability. There are often days where getting up at quarter to seven to cajole sleepy children into taking a shower is the last thing I want to do, but I suck it up and do it anyway because summer camp is also the most rewarding experience I have ever had.
As college students, summer camp shuts us out because camp is exclusively about the campers. During staff training last summer, we ran through the dining hall chanting “the campers come first! The campers come first!” repeatedly at the top of our lungs. Focusing on self is important, but sometimes you learn more about yourself when you shift focus to other people. Putting others first is an experience that teaches skills like listening, mediation, and problem solving. Dedicating our lives to campers enables an expedited maturation that is often not achieved by others until they have children. Not only are we accountable for ourselves, we are accountable for others. This offers a sense of purpose and continuous satisfaction with the quality of life.
If I haven’t sold you yet, let me offer two words: MARKETABLE. SKILLS. As a summer camp counselor, you learn to be a jack of all trades: a leader, a listener, a friend, a confidant, a table-busser, fire-starter, cabin-cleaner, older sibling, and expert s’more maker. Not only that, but if you work at a camp like mine, you will be constantly leading activities and teaching classes. My program director has invariably forgotten that I know nothing about a subject sometimes, and I have had to become an overnight expert on yoga or canoeing or Magic: The Gathering. Camp teaches you to think on your toes. Along with making up activities on the fly, counselors get to solidify skills over the course of the summer. Whether it’s nailing the bullseye on the archery range or making the perfect friendship bracelet, we can all improve and look to improve through teaching our crafts to others.
Not only that, but summer camp friends are the best kind of friends. Each of us is plopped down in a brand-new environment and taught how to be a team. Somewhere between learning how to lead a night hike and diversity and conflict resolution trainings, camp counselors form a bond like no other. We understand how to encourage children to have healthy relationships and make them ourselves. Due to the fact that we spend so much time during the day focusing on the kids, off time is never a dull moment. Between exploring the local “cuisine” (as if there’s a real restaurant for miles) to day trips to the local ponds to staff-only parties, there is never an end to the fun to be had with camp friends. Even in January when camp feels like eons away, camp people tend to sense when one another are feeling down; my camp friends always call me when I need it most, singing silly songs about Herman the Worm and boa constrictors at me until I join in. 
Above all, the number one reason to work at camp is for the kids. My favorite thing about being a counselor is holding the ability to inspire. My greatest passion is watching a connection form, and it inevitably will. Counselors are demigod-status to campers. Just by existing as ourselves, they will inevitably look up to us. With this power, counselors have the privilege of raising campers’ self-esteem, self-image, and self-worth every day. In a world of constant media comparison, sometimes all a child needs is to be told that they are a good job just being themselves. Give a child this assurance, and they in return give an entire summer of shared laughter, tears, and love.
