Camp. Everybody thinks about camp and can usually remember a good time that they had. You look forward to camp all summer, and then it finally comes and suddenly ends in just a short amount of time. When you get too old for camp, you yearn for the fun that you had and the sense of community that you had there. That’s when the time comes to become a camp counselor.
I’m not going to lie, when I told people that I was a camp counselor for the summer, everyone asked what I got paid, or why I would willingly put myself in the crazy situation of being responsible for the kids 24/7. I would just look at them and smile. Honestly, I don't do it for the money, and I don’t always do it for the campers. I do it for myself. There is nothing like the bond formed from lack of sleep, dealing with homesick campers and being a kid for weeks on end.
This summer I worked at Camp Hollymont (http://hollymont.com) in Asheville, North Carolina. It’s an all girls’ Christian camp. It’s at a beautiful campus, and honestly, it’s probably the only camp I would ever work at. We get made fun of and say that we’re glamping, and I can’t completely disagree. Would you?
Hollymont is a rather small camp in the area, and there are a billion camps around. I love the close-knit family that is formed because of the size. Not only are the campers friends from year to year, but so are the counselors. This was my second year, and I came back looking forward to continuing the friendships that I made last year. I came in not knowing nearly as many people as I thought. But that didn’t last long. One good thing about counselors is that none of us are shy. It doesn’t really fit well with the job description. Once we got through staff week, it was time to finally welcome the campers.
Six weeks of camp is a long time. Each night gets later, you get stuck in your routine and the homesickness is starting to creep in. You start to pull into yourself, but thankfully those other counselors are doing the same thing, and they’re great support systems. They know everything that you’re going through and have empathy, not sympathy (which is exactly what you don’t want when you’re sleep deprived and living off of the coffee in the dining hall). A sisterhood forms through all of these tough times and that is what matters the most to me about camp.
To believe that almost all of these girls were strangers seven weeks before this picture was taken is mind blowing. Who would have thought that spending time on the other side of camp would give you an even greater appreciation for camp life? We spent so much time laughing together, dancing to "High School Musical," singing "Lost Boy" and loving each other. Nothing can break the bond that we have. That’s what makes being a camp counselor worth it.
