What I Learned As A Camp Counsellor

This is my first crack at writing a blog post so bear with me on this one.

Honestly, I had no idea where to start or if I should talk about a personal experience. I’ve been asked about this before, so I guess this is where thinking back to better times in lockdown has led me.

Let me set the scene

I spent two summers working as a lifeguard at a co-ed private summer camp in Minnesota, famous as “The Land of 10,000 Lakes” which catered to campers aged 6-17 years old. Who knew watching kids falling laughing off a banana boat could be so fun? With working pretty much 24 hours a day the experience was intense, but I soon understood the phrase “the toughest job you’ll ever love”.

The Beginning

Camp America was always something that caught my attention, and after flicking through the blogs and videos of the travelling opportunities, my heart was fully set. The idea of spending my summer break from uni working increased hours in my retail job didn’t appeal and I think ultimately sparked my motivation. Surely my 4 month break was worth doing something with?

After attending the recruitment fair in London and being rejected by my favourite looking camps (which I vividly remember causing me to have a stressful cry in the toilets lol) I was finally placed by Vonda, the camp owner at Camp Pillsbury. Before I knew it my visa was accepted, CA fees paid, bags packed with too many “essentials” and I was off. I left home 3rd June 2017, to fly across the other side of the world to work and live with people I’d never met for 3 whole months. Think it’s fair to say my nerves and excitement were at an all time high.

Was I going to make friends? Would I get home sick? Were people going to like me? Was this too big of a jump at 19?

After some cheesy induction activities, gossiping with my new room mate, exploring downtown Owatonna, ordering enough dominos to feed the 5,000 and fitting Walmart standard fairy lights in my room – things were starting to feel like home.

“What is a camp counsellor?”

Some of you may be questioning what the role actually involves. I’m happy to tell you it doesn’t involve some sort of therapy. I hope that by outlining what I’ve learnt can give some sort of insight below.

• Confidence & Personal Development

If you would’ve told me before the summer that I would get up and sing or do a funny dance dressed as a bloke both on stage (I can neither sing nor dance) I would’ve told you where to go and laughed. Even if your not the loudest of the bunch when leading group activities, those times when your forced out of your comfort zone to do something fun for the kids and act silly builds you up more than would realise. My sarcasm and immaturity was paying off for once.

• Independence

Independence isn’t just for the 4th of July.

Despite those amazing celebrations which ironically is the Americans beating the British, independence was a big one for me. Living at home with my parents the washing was often allocated to them… but not anymore. When you realise you’ve run out of knickers, adulting suddenly becomes real. Not just the practical things but ‘flying the nest’ so to speak, exploring different states and hiring cars for a road trip whilst not having to text your mum to say you won’t be home for tea.

• Friends for life

At home I confess, my alarm wakes me up and usually I’ll check Instagram. But at camp I woke up next to my room mate, who is still one of my best friends today. We talked about anything and everything. Within a week from meeting at the airport to planning out our summer, complete strangers became lifelong friends. That included a few life stories, crying together (good & sad tears) and laughing so hard I swear my bladder weakened. Those bonds you make really set the tone for the summer, it’s the perfect place to be your full weird self and I felt so lucky to have a family away from home. Not just British counsellors, I met people and made friends from all over including Brazil, Poland, Mexico and America (of course!).

• Working with kids

Although this seems obvious, this is one aspect that pulled on my heart strings more that I thought. Prior to camp, I wasn’t deemed the ‘maternal’ type as my mum kindly puts, but this quickly changed. I never expected to bond or actually like working with kids, but when your faced with campers of all ages with ADHD, other disorders, difficult past/current lives and some being pulled through the fostering system, it made those goodbyes some of the hardest I have ever done. It really opened my eyes to how much you can actually change a child’s life. Having those conversations and having them open up you about their lives was really difficult. This became the most rewarding part of all because ultimately they look up to you and you can be that ear to listen that they wouldn’t always get at home.

• Appreciating the small things in life

As cliché as this may sound, it’s true. My general attire wasn’t exactly Victoria Beckham standards – to be frank I wore swimsuits, t-shirts 5 sizes too big, flip flops, no makeup and my hair was generally windswept and smelt of lake water. At home it’s so easy to forget the small things, but here I was too excited about trying s’mores, flying on the trapeze, setting free a butterfly, watching fireflies, driving the boat for the first time (bricked it) or watching my first thunderstorm (bricked it some more). It was all full of firsts, so much so that checking my phone and social media really didn’t matter. I was in my own bubble where what really matters comes through.

• Travel

I managed to squeeze in 17 states and 9 national parks over my first summer. That was pretty intense so it’s fair to say my experience of the American culture was jam packed by the time my visa expired. Although corn dogs didn’t rock my boat, I was converted into a fanatic country music lover. Just ask my boyfriend. Guilty! Here’s a few pictures of some of my favourite places to round this off.

• Badlands – South Dakota
• Chicago, Illinois
• Canyonlands, Utah
• Rocky Mountains, Colorado
• Zion national park, Utah
• Joshua Tree National Park, California

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I hope that whatever your interests are that you find this insightful. Just to note, everyone’s experiences are different, so I only speak for myself on what you may expect if you’re considering Camp America, something similar or just curious.

If you made it this far thanks a bunch! I’d love to hear any feedback or thoughts!