The Value of Working at Camp
Camp IS a “real job!”
Many wonderful articles have been written that emphasize the importance and value of summers spent working at camp.
In this article, a strategic communications professionals describes how a summer working at camp is the best management training program he has ever seen.
From the article:
If employers are smart, they’ll soon recognize that veteran counselors of summer camp are capable of doing far more than leading campfire sing-downs or calming a homesick child (though, to be sure, those skills are pretty important in life). These are work-ready young adults who have been entrusted with far more responsibility than they’re often given credit; you’d be wise to hire one (as I have recently).
This is a great article on Why You Should Be a Camp Counselor (Instead of an Intern)!
From the article:
For the second year in a row, I worked at a sleep-away camp that I attended as a kid. For nine weeks, I was in charge of someone’s child. I held the most terrifying amount of responsibility in my hands—caring for the most precious thing in people’s lives. I’m always terrified of it, yet every summer, I find myself going back to this magical place that is camp. I get the same disappointed and unenthused look every summer from people—how could I possibly be working at a summer camp when I could be looking for an internship at an awesome magazine and pursuing what I want to do with my life? Well the truth is folks, there’s no better way to spend the summer… Rather than fetch someone coffee, I learned more about myself than I would have if I worked in an office. When you’re an intern, you want to impress the head honchos above you, and are so nervous about making a fool of yourself. As a camp counselor, I dance around my cabin in my snapback, staff shirt, knee high socks, and Birkenstocks, and just be. Of course my campers make fun of me, yet they looked up to me in awe at how I didn’t care how weird I was and how goofy I looked. In all honestly, I was amazed too. Camp brings out the best version of you.
Click here to read how Jewish Summer Camp Strengthens Resume and Character.
From the article:
It turns out that Jewish summer camp is actually a great place for teens to gain experiences and skills that will ultimately make them not only more attractive candidates for college and employment, but also better equipped to face so many of life’s major challenges. Teens are discovering that if they follow their hearts back to camp summer after summer (initially as older campers and then as counselors), they’re not just returning to a place of emotional safety and social comfort. They’re also putting themselves in the best position to become successful, committed young Jewish adults.