The person who is currently my boss and our camp director told our staff that the first question that Bill Gates asks in a job interview is: "Were you ever a camp counselor?"

While that personally wouldn't be my first question if I were Bill Gates, it is still one I'm going to keep in my back pocket if I ever have to conduct an interview. Why? Because it is easily one of the most difficult, character-building and rewarding jobs that I have ever had.

This will be my fourth summer working as a camp counselor both for day and overnight camps. This is my second year at my current job but with the new title of archery specialist (so adult sounding, right?), and I can honestly say I've never been so excited for a summer.

Being a camp counselor is so rewarding because of all the things you learn and all of the people, both campers and staff, that you get to impact. Anyone that worked with me last summer would tell you that my job was very demanding and often very difficult, but I walked away learning and growing so much from the challenges. I learned not to sweat the small stuff, that nothing will ever go as you planned when working with kids, and that if you make the honest effort to have fun with these kids, they can change your life.

This job requires more patience, heart, enthusiasm, positive energy and flexibility than any job I will ever have.

Last summer, I had a camper that came toward the end of the summer. At this point, I was very tired from my long days at work, very set in my ways in what I could do at this job and quite honestly, I didn't think many of my campers liked me. He had come from an overnight camp in the area, and all he talked about was how much he missed it there. This kid had an overwhelming amount of spirit and love for camp and was one of the nicest kids I've encountered. He always wanted me to participate in games with him and included me like I was also a camper, and this really made me see that I had been impacting these kids all along. Although I had to take the roll of a strict counselor, my camper still liked me and wanted me to be a part of their day and overall camp experience. This camper made me realize the value in camp from a kid's standpoint, but also for the staff.

Now, let me tell you about summer camp staff. You will not be able to find a weirder, more fun, more energetic or more genuine group of people than those who work at camp. I can tell you right now that none of us are there for the money, which honestly makes it so much more fun because we are all there because we love the job we've been tasked with. I will never say that we love each and every day at camp, because there are rough ones. However, looking back at all the friends I've made both at the camp I currently work at, but also the ones I've worked at in the past, I don't think I've ever met better people.

Camp is a place where you can be so genuinely weird and goofy and completely yourself which is so incredible because people often feel so uncomfortable doing that. During our staff development week this past week, I shared the single most embarrassing story I have about farting during the SAT. Afterward, I was really regretting sharing that, but everyone was laughing about it and telling me what and awesome story it was.

This also reflects heavily on our campers. Having a place where you can be 100 percent authentic and still have everyone around you be inclusive and encouraging is exactly what every kid needs and is what camp is all about. I've had many kids in the past tell me that they struggled in school or that they don't have a great group of friends elsewhere, and I love to see those kids thrive during the summer. Camp truly is a safe place for kids where they have no pressure to be a certain way, nobody is expecting them to be good at everything and a place where everyone can truly find at least one thing they love. Although I will spend my life in schools with my goal to become a teacher, I really do believe in the teaching and learning that goes on at summer camp.

While I have loved getting to know my fellow staff members this past week for our staff development week, I am so excited for the summer to start so I can start having incredible, hilarious, sometimes frustrating, but overall completely 100 percent rewarding experiences with wonderful kids and continue to grow with my wonderful staff.

What they say about kids teaching you things too is 856,364,846 percent true, and I'm looking forward to reflecting on all these lessons that I'll learning this summer in August.

If you've made it this far in this article and you're a parent and you're questioning whether to send your kids to camp, do it. They'll thank you for it later.