Summer Camp

[Chrissie]

Soooo, For the Summer of 2008, I'm thinking of going to Summer Camp!

 

I'm thinking of mostly applying for a job in like the camp office as I've not really had much experience working directly with kids but if this isn't too much of a problem I would love to be a general councillor.

 

Have any of you guys worked at a camp before? Or even have any memories of being there? Id love to hear your thoughts or stories about camp as I only have a little bit of an idea what goes on there(Mostly from movies lol) and would love to hear what it is actually like, as this will help me decide what to do.

 

If camp doesn't work out or sound too appealing, I'm definitely considering going back to WDW...Lol

 

Thanks for your help!!

[steel]

I've been going to (Lutheran Bible) Camp for several years now. I went to NeSoDak in Watertown, SD in 2002 and 2003, Outlaw Ranch in Custer, SD in 1993, 2003, and 2007, Klein Ranch in Isabel, SD in 2005. I'm planning to go to Atlantic Mountain Ranch in Custer, SD next summer. I also went to Waldsee, the Concordia German Language Village in northern Minnesota in 2002 and I got back last week from Wilderness Canoe Base, which is in the Boundary Waters of Minnesota.

My dad worked at camp for most of the 80's and I'm planning to work at Outlaw and/or Klein when the window of opportunity opens up.

So I guess you could say that I know what I'm talking about.

 

Camp isn't all making lanyards and doing obstacle courses like you see in movies. I've never made a lanyard at camp and the closest thing I've done to an obstacle course is a ropes course.

 

If you want to work at camp, be a counselor. An office job won't be nearly as interesting and you probably won't have as much fun.

A counselor needs to be on all the time. You need to be cheerful, respectful, and optomistic from the time you wake up to the time you turn the lights out in your cabin. If you don't have the right attitude, your campers will not get the experience they could be getting. That's the biggest part. You also need to have a good influence on the campers. If you complain about chores on site, they'll complain about chores on site. If you talk about other counselors behind their backs, they'll talk about other campers.

You'll almost definitely go to at least one Counselor in Training class and they will tell you everything you need to know.

 

Obviously, I can't speak from experience, but from everything I've heard, it's an outrageously awesome thing to do.

"It takes a tremendous amount of courage to go away to camp and do things a little differently than the rest of the world. When the kids come to the end of the week, we don't even realize anymore that we've been away from all the "stuff" that clutters our life in the world outside of camp." - Anonymous Counselor

 

Do it.

[masterofthematrix91]

This summer I worked at a boy scout summer camp called Boxwell. I worked in the kitchens and wish I had chosen any other job. DO NOT WORK IN THE KITCHENS!!!! It is hard and takes a lot of your time. The fun part of working there was that we had electricity in the staff site, so every night we would play Halo, Halo 2, and Gears Of War. It was a lot of fun with all of my friends that I had met at camp when I was a camper.

 

Also, people would bring all of their movies and we would watch them without asking my mom. This is a big plus for me! (Blazing Saddles, Clerks 2, Fight Club, The 40 year old virgin, 300(Boot leg!!) ect.) We would also get a "Staff-Night-Out" where we would go and get pizza. On our last night out we went to see Harry Potter 5 at the midnight showing. It was a blast!!!

 

I had this job for 7 weeks and got paid $80 a week because I was new and inexperienced. I REALLY can't wait for next year!!!

 

Working at a summer camp is a lot of fun and I highly reccommend it!

[shesaidboom]

I've worked at a camp for several years and I'd suggest working as a counsellor over anything else. It's a very exciting job with new challenges popping up all the time to keep you on your toes. It really is a lot of fun, and most of the time doesn't even feel like work.

 

The experience itself completely depends on the type of camp and age of the kids. Are you planning to work at a sleep away camp or a day camp? Young kids or older kids? I've worked at a day camp with kids aged 3-9 and with each age group my job was completely different. With really young kids there's a lot more 'baby sitting' type work involved. You pretty much have to help them with everything, keep track of all their belongings (because they will forget EVERYTHING), make sure they're actually with you at all times, make sure they're happy, and encourage them to participate in the activities. It's still a lot of fun, especially when you see how excited they are about experiencing certain things for the very first time, but they rely on you a lot more than older kids do. With older kids there are a lot more activities you can do, and they're a lot more independant. I liked working with the younger kids, but my favourite group was the 7-9 year olds. I don't have experience with sleep away camp or camp kids older than 9 so I can't really help much there.

 

The best piece of advice I can give you is to be positive and to be energetic and excited about all the activities, no matter how awful or boring they seem. If you're excited, the kids will be too. If you're having fun, they will too. Good luck!

[Chrissie]

Thanks guys!! You've really helped

 

Im not sure what kinda camp I'll be offered until after my interview which I have to pay £60 ($120) for and then if I don't find a job then they will refund me. I definitely do not wanna be in the kitchens lol. I done that at Disney and never wanna work in one again lol.

 

Will keep you posted in what I do