Most everyone has seen the Parent Trap and Camp Rock. What do those two vastly different movies have in common? Summer camp.
I'm here to tell you that summer camp isn't only in the movies. Summer camp is real. The camp games are real. The cabins and dining halls are real. The fun loving counselors are real. The hundreds of kids running around are real. I've been lucky enough to live that reality for the past eight years.
I first went to camp when I was 11 years old. I'm 18 and I'm still going. The only difference now is that I'm a staff member instead of a camper. I wouldn't want it any other way.
I work at the YMCA Camp Greenville in Cleveland, South Carolina. As a staff member, you get to change the lives of the children that attend. It's not an easy job. Most people just think we go up their and hang out with kids and mess around all day. While we do get to hang out with kids and mess about, we also do that for nine weeks straight.
It's exhausting, mentally and physically. The pay is low. We only get to go off mountain twice per week. Having said all of that, camp counselors are some of the most driven, hard working, and dedicated people I've ever met.
By the end of the week, you view your campers as your siblings. Check out day is one of the hardest days of the week. Tears are shed by both campers and counselors. The counselors are exhausted from giving the kids the best week of their lives, but they're also heart broken to see them go. When a camper asks if you (being their counselor) are coming back the following summer or if you could be their counselor again, that's when you know the job is worth it. That's when you know you've changed someone's life forever. It takes a special kind of person to be a camp counselor. I have the utmost respect for them.
As for all of the other counselors there, they become your family. I have friends from all over the world now thanks to Camp Greenville. Some of my best friends live in places such as Spain, Brazil, and England.
Being a camp counselor also teaches you important life skills. It teaches you leadership skills. It teaches you how to be okay living away from home and your family. It helps you become more independent. As cheesy as it sounds, having that job helps you discover who you truly are.
Becoming a camp counselor was one of the best decisions of my life. I've learned so much about myself and I feel like I've really learned how to change other people's lives for the better. I've gotten to zip line, rock climb, work with horses, shoot rifles as well as bows an arrows. I've gotten to go canoeing and kayaking as well as jump off of a thirty foot high tower into a lake.
More than anything, I've gotten to watch my campers do and accomplish more than they ever thought they would. I've watched them come out of their shells and their comfort zones with my help.
The job is hard, but it's so worth it. Camp isn't just in the movies. It's real too. I highly suggest every single one of you go look into working at a summer camp. It may just be one of the best decisions you've ever made.
