Perfect summer job for a want to be teacher? A summer camp - exactly my thought too! I figured anything in which I was working with children would be a wonderful resume builder and I would earn some extra cash for my pocket in the process. What could possibly go wrong? Well, after two years, about to start my third, on staff at a summer camp, I can say it's been quite an adventure. As a soon to be educator, I'd like to think that the young girls I work with learn a lot from me during their time at camp. But, truth be told, I learn as much from them.

1) Everyone is Unique

This seems like a given. From an earlier age we are told to accept everyone for their differences and to understand that what we like is not always going to be what someone else likes too. As a camp counselor we are told to reinforce this with the campers we have each week. What I never realized was in the process of getting the girls to accept their differences how I would learn to embrace my own weirdness too.

I took up a nickname, was willing to make a fool of myself for fun, and laughed at myself when I made a mistake. Instead of looking at every little flaw and failure in life I accepted it as a learning experience, something that made me different and unique from others. No longer was I the shy, self-ashamed little girl that I came into camp as. I became the confident, fun loving, strong young woman role model that every little girl needs.

2) You Don't Need to Fix Everything

The thing about living completely in nature is things don't always go as planned. You plan field games and then it rains. Tell the girls to collect fire wood and they freak as a wild animal crosses their path. As the person of authority, a counselor is responsible for being quick on their feet, flexible to whatever may occur. You always have to have a deck of cards to play with while you wait out the rain. You have to be calm in an emergency, distracting other campers while getting those in danger back to safety. I planned for all of these things; I was trained to do so.

What I did not plan for was the communication aspect of working with people, specifically little people. Children are often like broken electronics. They will start crying like a computer will shut down a program for no reason, leaving you as the operator to search through your hard drive trying to uncover the problem. As a camp counselor, I learned that sometimes a child's mood swings are simply because they are lonely or tired - though a child will never, ever, tell you that they are actually tired. Sometimes they just want someone to sit by them and tell them a story, just to know they are not alone as they slowly fall asleep at night. I'd like to think all people are like that - we don't always make our wishes clear, but sometimes it's really as simple as having someone there, no need to go and fix any problem.

3) Patience is Truly a Virtue

At camp we have a number of team building activities for the campers to do throughout the week. As counselors, we spend two weeks prior to camp going through the same activities to build staff bonding. One such activity the entire group stands on a tarp and has to flip the entire tarp over without stepping off the tarp. It is during this point of staff week in which we talk about the "know it all" campers - the ones who would tell everyone to jump because they 'just know it will work'. We are told to politely silence these campers and allow others experience things themselves. I'm sure you can only imagine the feeling when, my second year on staff, I became the "know it all" and was blind folded and told to keep my mouth shut during the entire exercise. It was quite frustrating.

What I came to learn that summer was everyone, both children and adults alike, travel through life at their own pace. For some, it is their third year at camp and they know all the staff members' names and have done all the camp activities. But, for others, this is their first time away from home, nonetheless sleeping outdoors instead of their nice warm house. Having this understanding and allowing others to grow and experience things without the overbearing "NO! IT GOES LIKE THIS!" authority is the biggest job of a summer camp counselor. Something that I, and many others, often struggle with, both at and not at camp.

4) The Smallest Things Can Make All the Difference

Everyone who works with children has a story about "that kid", the one that was horribly mean or was extremely disruptive at all the wrong times. My story is about a little girl, who I shall call Jill. Jill had an array of learning disabilities as well as cognitive and focusing issues. On top of such, her mother decided to give her a break from her A.D.H.D. medications while she was at camp - leaving us with a young girl who refused to listen and was almost completely unable to ever finish a simple task. As a young staff member, I was personally put as a one-on-one with Jill, as a learning experience for me (aka no one else wanted to handle her). One day while I was assisting with a swim lesson at the pool, I realized Jill was still sitting on the steps, refusing to join her lesson group. I walked over to her and softly asked her what was wrong. She said the water was too cold and that she didn't have any goggles. I found her a pair of goggles and together we counted down a minute on each step until she was in the water. After that moment, I was Jill's best friend and she would do anything I asked of her (at her own pace, of course!).

What Jill made me realize is that life is about the small moments. All it took to make Jill's swim lesson the best time of her day was me taking notice of her and helping her make her way into the water. It is little interactions like that which bring the real joy and happiness to our lives. It's not about the cool trips or crafts that you make while the campers are in our care; it's about showing them that we care. It's the waving hello to the little girl who thinks my short haircut is cool even if I never know her name. It's the taking the proper time to give each camper a good night hug, or high five if they would prefer, just to let them know that you are there. It's all the little moments throughout a day which make that day great, adding up over time to the best week ever at camp.

When I first accepted my job as a summer camp counselor, I expected the whining and the sass that everyone hates from children. What I didn't ever dream of is the multitude of things I would learn just about life, this short list included. Working with children opens your mind like that. In the end, there's no other job I could wish for in the world.