When I was hired as a camp counselor, I had a general idea of what to expect. I knew that I would be in charge of about eight campers from Sunday afternoon through Friday morning, 23 hours a day. I knew it would be a lot of work, lots of fun, and that I would learn a lot. But I don’t think I REALLY knew what it means to be a counselor. This summer, I was able to learn what it does mean, so here’s my brief summary of what it means to be a camp counselor, and why working at a summer camp was the right thing for me to do this summer.
Counselors are energetic. Sometimes that energy literally comes from nowhere, but despite the exhaustion and short patience, you still manage to jump around and sing and dance at morning worship and evening campfire. We draw our energy from other counselors and from the staff members. One of my favorite moments from the summer was after a ladies’ night with our Pioneer (4th and 5th grade) and Trailblazer (8th and 9th grade) girls. We matched all of the Pioneers up with one or two Trailblazers, and the girls became “sisters” for the week. The initiation included lots of funny chanting, a Maya Angelou poem, a slip-n-slide, and an epic dance party at the end. My Pioneer girls were so excited to have their older sisters, and one of my campers came up to me afterward, gave me a hug, and said, “This has been the best day of my LIFE!” The next day, I kept thinking about how excited she was, and so even after a long night of little sleep, I was able to keep my energy up and keep a smile on my face because I knew that it was making a difference to those girls.
Counselors live off coffee. I learned how to drink black coffee this summer. (Well, not really black because I add hot chocolate mix and milk to it… but still better than my typical buy a blended drink coffee!) Between late nights on weekends after our many adventures and campers who just won’t fall asleep, or who wake you up seven times in the middle of the night, coffee becomes a staple part of your diet.
Counselors have to be extremely patient – and oh boy was my patience tested this summer. Every camper has a different home life, a different background, a different story. Our job is to show them love. This can be extremely difficult sometimes. I had a few campers who really enjoyed pushing boundaries and testing my patience. But I also knew that several of these campers did not have the best situations at home, and some of them even admitted that to me. When you hear their stories, you just know that these kids just need someone to show them love, compassion, and patience.
To be a camp counselor, you have to be ok with dressing up in strange costumes and acting like complete idiots in front of a group of 160 campers and 20 staff members. Between dressing up as “Country, mute Elsa,” a sloth, the whale from Jonah and the whale, Marie Antoinette, and much more, I have grown quite accustomed to wearing strange-smelling dresses and wigs and running around and talking in accents and doing weird dances. It’s all part of the fun of summer camp.
All of the staff members are ridiculously talented. Whether they are talented musicians, artists, speakers, athletes, etc… for some reason every single staff member is insanely talented. I worked with counselors who have written songs, and who play 7 instruments. Staff members who can create an amazing painting or sketch out of nothing, and staff members who are just ridiculously talented athletes. Everyone brought something unique to the camp community, and it is all so greatly appreciated.
Speaking of staff members, the staff at camp became family. I only met these people 80 days ago, yet I feel as close to them as I do to my college and high school best friends. We had so many adventures both at camp and on the weekends. Our first Friday off, I went with four other girls to Glacier National Park for my first time ever. It was so much fun, and I was in awe of the beauty of the mountains. The staff was a very important support system this summer. When a close family friend suddenly passed this summer, I was glad I was at camp. I immediately had fellow staff members coming up to me and hugging me and offering me encouraging words and a hand to hold or shoulder to lean on. The distraction of camp was also very helpful with getting through stressful and emotional times this summer. I love the staff, and can't wait to meet up with all of them again sometime this school year.
Finally, working at a bible camp helped me grow in my faith. I lead more bible studies than I want to count, and I was constantly amazed by the perspectives that kids would bring to discussion. One of my favorite moments and more eye-opening moments was after an emotional prayer service with a cabin of 8th and 9th graders. We were talking about what everyone found most meaningful about the prayer service, and some said seeing everyone crying (boys, girls and counselors), some said having the support of other people laying a hand on you while you pray, and then one girl brought up the music. During the prayer service, there is one acoustic guitar, and only one or two songs that we sing. This camper brought up that with so few distractions at the prayer service, she was able to actually pay attention to the meaning of the lyrics of the song. She said that that was made her cry and think the most. Since then, my perspective on music in general has changed – but especially worship music. When you listen to the meanings behind the lyrics, the song becomes more powerful, and for me, is one of the ways that I feel I am able to best express and grow in my faith.
This summer was insane. I am exhausted, I am happy that I experienced it, I am sad that I had to leave when I felt like I was just getting started. I learned so much about how difficult it is to be a camp counselor, and I learned a lot about myself and my relationship with God, and for that, this summer will always be a summer to remember.
