It is a completely different world. Thirty minutes from a town big enough to be mildly entertaining. Deep into the Northwoods of Wisconsin is a place even more magical than Disney World itself. Somewhere where crazy is never turned away and mistakes are used as learning experiences. A summer camp.
I've always been fascinated with the idea of spending a summer at camp. Possibly influenced by movies like "The Parent Trap" or even "Camp Rock." Seeing kids having endless amounts of fun sailing, canoeing and making up skits, were all thing I loved to do growing up.
So you can probably imagine the excitement I had as I applied for counselor positions at various summer camps. Looking back, I'm not sure what I wanted out of the summer. I didn't think about changing the lives of my campers or even my very own, I just know that I wanted a fun summer outside and thought I would hopefully learn something about myself.
Applying for a summer camp was very out of character for me. Working with kids really doesn't align with my career goals at all. I have spent the last four years focusing primarily on the workings of politics and government, so I was quite nervous that working at a summer camp would put me behind in my field compared to having an internship at a political office. Little did I know this experience would only strengthen my professional skills.
Fast forward to the beginning of summer, I eventually decided on an all-girls camp in Northwestern Wisconsin. I did not know anyone at the camp, or even what it looked like. But if there's one thing I've learned so far it's that usually, the best experiences start with being nervous because that means you really care. And if my nerves were any indication of this new adventure, this was going to be one for the records.
With every new experience, there is definitely a learning curve. I remember the first week of staff training when the directors of camp stated, "Being a counselor will be one of the hardest things you do so far, but the most rewarding."
As the weeks passed and I met my campers, this statement resonated in my mind throughout the months. I soon fell into the role of a "camp mommy," something that was interesting to experience at the age of 19. I was not only in charge of myself and making sure I was happy, but ten other human beings as well.
It was up until this moment that I had forgotten what it had been like to be a kid. To take a step back through time and truly be in the mindset of my campers. They did not need T.V. or electronics to be entertained. The simplest things made us laugh. It felt like we had made our own family and I was in a position to keep the family together.
It is engaging to think about how someone else or a group of people can change your life. Through my campers and fellow staff's outlooks on life, I found myself and the person I want to be.
Being a counselor at summer camp pushed me to my edge at some points with being routinely woken up at 2 in the morning by campers, dealing with small quarrels and having to constantly entertain. But even though this was supposed to be the hardest job thus far in my life, I never once looked at it as a job, and that is how I know that this summer changed my life.
Through the activities, evening programs, camping trips and many cheers, I found happiness. This happiness did not just come from being silly, but from confidence in myself through self-expression, trust in others and a healthy mindset.
I now know I am capable of doing so much more than I previously expected of myself. I can handle stress efficiently, effectively communicate and litigate tasks to help create a positive environment for others.
Usually, we can interchangeably use the word camp for how camp actually made us feel.
It is a place where people can gather, learn from each other, accept differences and encourage one another to have a genuinely good time. The task now is taking a piece of camp with me wherever I go and take what I learned as a counselor and apply it to my professional and personal life.
To state the one main takeaway from camp is near impossible because it's hard to describe yourself in one word. Knowing who you are as a person is something people talk about a lot, but the journey on how one gets there is the true story. Camp is my story.
