As the summer is coming to a close and leaving for my last semester of college I wanted to reflect on the summer job I had for the past 4 years.

I've been working as a camp counselor at a day camp since the summer before my 2nd year of college. I never thought I would keep coming back. I thought eventually I would get an "adult" job and I was told I needed to find an internship in order to get a job after college. But I didn't see the appeal of commuting to the city and fetching coffee for no money at all. Also I loved working at camp. Getting to wear a t-shirt and shorts to work everyday constantly being around people your own age. I loved how close I got with my co-workers, we had so many inside jokes and truly helped each other get through those dog days of summer.

Camp gave me a reason to be silly and comfortable with myself. Why would I give that up? As years went on less and less of my friends returned to camp. They had "internships", I felt kind of like a loser for returning to camp. After this summer I realized I should not be ashamed about working at a camp. I was a group leader which was not easy, all the responsibility was on me. I had to keep track of my campers and staff. I learned how to communicate with children and their parents. I learned that being in charge was not easy and sometimes you couldn't be your staff's friend. There's this stigma that being a counselor is easy and takes no skill. This stigma is completely wrong. I truly believe I learned more in my 4 years at camp that I could learn at an internship.

This past summer was probably my last year being able to work at a camp since I have to get a year round job. But if I ever have the opportunity to be a camp counselor again, I would take it in a heartbeat.