Any kid that has ever had the opportunity to attend summer camp will tell you that it is an awesome experience. Swimming in the pool, canoeing trips on the lake, and late night campfires are simply a way of life for people in the camping industry. As my final year as a summer camp counselor comes to a close, I look back on all the things that this sort of job teaches a person. Although your job is to teach the kids and make the week fun for them, counselors themselves often learn a few life lessons on the job as well as make some great memories.
In order to give a good example of what I mean, I decided to do a group interview with two counselors who trained me and that I have worked partially alongside for the past five years. At the summer camp we work at, we use nicknames instead of our actual names so as to conceal identities on social media. Therefore, I will be referring to these ladies by their "camp names" throughout the article. "Kibbitz" is a summer camp EMT who has worked with multiple 4-H Centers throughout the stage of Virginia over the last several years. "Freakshow" started off as a summer staff member and has progressed through the ranks to the position of Programs Assistant at on of the 4-H centers in the state.
Q: What is the most embarrassing moment you have ever encountered at camp?
Kibbitz: "OK, so it was my first summer ever. I never went to camp as a camper or a teen counselor or an adult volunteer or anything, and I'm the EMT so I had to go back to the clinic after staff introductions so I was supposed to go first. And we were at the pool and all the campers are on one side of the pool and all the staffs in the office. And they were doing the introduction and they were like, 'And here's our EMT, Siren!' And I was like, 'No, no, no, I'm not going out yet! Somebody else go first!' And they were like, 'No you have to go!' So the staff pushes me out of the pool office and I'm like, '....hey camp....' And my two bosses are standing over in the corner and they were like, *whispered* 'Come on, give us some energy!' So I'm like, waving bigger and smiling and they were like, 'No, more! More!' So I go into straight out cheerleader mode. And I'm like, shuffling my feet the way cheerleaders do, like I'm running in front of the bleachers at a football game. I'm like, shaking my hands like I've got pom-poms in them. And my entire staff is cracking up in the pool office. And I NEVER heard the end of it. It was awful. SO EMBARRASSING."
Freakshow: "So, it was campfire at a teen and adult leader training, and I was acting really stupid. And I was running in the campfire circle. And I was singing a song, and I went in and sung my song and I started running back up the campfire circle steps and I fell and I ripped my big toenail off, pretended like nothing had happened, and limped back home."
Q: What is your favorite memory of a camper as a staff member?
Kibbitz: "I had a homesick camper and I had a bunch of silly bands. And cows are my favorite animal so I had this cow silly band. And this homesick camper, I would go to her cabin every single night to treat her for a stomachache. So I decided I was going to give her one of my silly bands every single night and have her give it back to me in the morning to help her sleep. So I gave her my cow silly band and I told her it was magic and that it helped tummy aches and helped people feel better and that this cow was my best friend. And every night I would go to her cabin and give it to her for bedtime and every morning, she would come find me and give it back to me. And at the end of the week, I decided to let her keep the cow and she was SO excited. Her face lit up, she gave me the tightest hug I've ever gotten from a camper. It was so cute! And she went on her merry way. By the end of the summer, I got a letter from this camper and inside was the cow silly band that I had given her at the end of camp. She wrote a really nice thank you letter telling me how much she appreciated me coming every night to take care of here and, uh, just how much the magic cow helped her out and that she knew how important he was to me so she wanted me to have him. It was very adorable."
Freakshow: "So I was on staff at Southwest and it was Carroll County week and there was a kid there named Evan. And we have dances every night at Southwest. And one night, he was sitting out by himself and one of the male staff members went to talk to him. And he's like, 'Why are you out here?' So he (Evan) is like, 'You know I just can't go in.' And they asked him why not and he said, 'Freakshow. Whenever I see her, whenever I'm near her, she makes my heart go pitter patter.' And I ended up dancing with him that night at the dance but the staff member told me that story and ever since then, I've called him pitter patter, that's been his nickname.
Q: What is one piece of advice that you would pass on to future camp counselors?
Kibbitz: "Greatest lesson I ever learned at camp, I learned it my first summer, was 'Quack quack, let it roll off your back.' Don't sweat the small stuff because a change in the schedule can stress you out, a kid not showing up to your class on time can stress you out, uh one of the adult volunteers getting upset with you over something stupid can stress you out but its about the big picture. You're there for the kids, you're there to make every day of the camp awesome for the campers and that's the big picture. If you keep sweating the small stuff, its gonna be harder and harder to keep your eye on the big picture, keep your eye on the goal. So, quack quack, let it roll off your back."
Freakshow: "Get some sleep. Even though people may be staying up, 'Hey, let's watch a movie tonight,' get some sleep. Because if you don't get sleep, you are going to drag ass the next day. Even on your breaks, rest. Sit in the air conditioning, don't do a damn thing, sit there, recharge your batteries. You know, just meditate if you must, but don't underestimate the power of a nap."
So next summer, consider being a camp counselor. Enjoy the little things and don't take any of it for granted. This is Electron, signing off as a camp counselor for the last time.
