Nothing will ever mentally prepare you to be fully in charge of 10, 8-year-old girls until you've actually done it. And trying to put 15 day-campers in canoes can be challenging. While being a camp counselor is challenging and, at times, stressful, it will be the most rewarding job that you've ever had as well as one of the best summers of your life. So, here are just a few of the main reasons why working as a camp counselor will make camp your forever home.

1. You get to work with kids.

Kids of all ages can sign up for camp--from the precious little 5-year-olds to teenagers in high school that will look up to you as a role model. Nothing beats that moment at the end of the week when a camper drags his or her parents up to meet you at closing program to show them her “favorite counselor ever.” Or when a first-time camper, who wasn’t sure about coming to camp, tells you that this was the best week he or she has ever had. Not only is this a job that makes an impact on you, but you know you’ve made an impact on other people as well.

2. Speaking of working with kids, you also get to be one! ALL. SUMMER. LONG.

Disclaimer: Working as a camp counselor can be a lot of work. It isn’t a 9 to 5 job, and it takes a lot of energy and responsibility. BUT, at the same time summer camp is a place where you can drop all of your other responsibilities, and just be a kid again! The good thing about having a 24/7 job is that you don’t have to venture back out into the “real world” of “adulting” every day--you get to be crazy, fun, energetic, and let your inner-kid come out! Who wouldn’t want that?

3. Camp is a judgment-free zone.

Summer camp is one of the easiest places to be yourself. You don’t have to worry about what anyone thinks about you because you’re probably not going to see the majority of these people again after this week, and the other counselors are probably [definitely] acting just as crazy as you are. How many other jobs out there let you yell about a little-red-wagon at the top of your lungs without the slightest bit of judgment? Not many.

4. The Mighty Mighty Super Scoop Noodle Challenge.

Mighty Mighty (for short) is a genius collaboration of capture the flag, tag, ultimate frisbee, kickball, and possibly any other field game that you can think of. Nothing (I MEAN NOTHING) beats the craziness that is Mighty Mighty Super Scoop Noodle Challenge. If you're a counselor, this is your favorite evening activity, and you may even get into it more than the campers do. #guilty

Now that we're on this theme of outdoor games...

5. Gaga Ball.

If you're a counselor, gaga ball is your best friend. This is what campers talk about all summer. This is your one acceptable free pass to win at something. Have an extra 15 minutes and need to fill time? Need an incentive for campers to be quiet during rest time? Has your creativity regarding outdoor activities reached its limit for the afternoon? Gaga ball is always the answer.

6. Want a gorgeous summer tan? You got it.

Forget the tanning beds and spray tans because this level of tan skin (complete with watch and sleeve tan-lines) only comes from working outside all day every day.

7. Summer camp is your excuse to wear "norts" and Chacos every single day.

You know how there's those jobs out there where you have to look presentable for work, and "casual Fridays" actually exist? Well, being a camp counselor isn't one of those jobs.

8. All the comfort food you could possibly eat.

The food at camp is so good. It’s the perfect combination of comfort food and southern cooking, and, to top it all off, mealtime is part of your job. I don’t know about you, but as a college student, I’m all about some free comfort food.

PS - You don’t even have to worry about the calories because you burn them off playing all that Mighty Mighty and gaga ball.

9. S’mores.

What’s the first skill you have to learn as a counselor? How to make a campfire. What’s the best food to make on a campfire? S’mores. And by the end of the summer, you've actually perfected the art of roasting a marshmallow.

10. Worship.

If you’re a Christian camp counselor then there’s probably a few things that you love: God, the outdoors, and (if you’re stereotypical enough) singing/playing the guitar. Put these three things together by a lake, and you’ve got evening worship.

11. You get the chance to grow in your spirituality.

The best thing about being at a Christian camp all summer is that you’re constantly surrounded by God. Whether it’s through worship, teaching bible studies, or just appreciating that you’re in God’s beautiful creation, you’re reminded of his presence everywhere you go.

12. You’ll make friendships that last forever.

You bond a lot with each other when you work 24/7 with other counselors who have the same interests as you. You live with them, you eat with them, and then you even start to spend your off-time with them. Then, before you know it, you’ve formed some of the best friendships that you’ll ever have with some of the best people that you’ve ever met.

C.S. Lewis understood this when he said,

"In friendship...we think we have chosen our peers. In reality a few years' difference in the dates of our births, a few more miles between certain houses, the choice of one university instead of another...the accident of a topic being raised or not raised at a first meeting--any of these chances might have kept us apart. But, for a Christian, there are, strictly speaking no chances. A secret master of ceremonies has been at work. Christ, who said to the disciples, "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you," can truly say to every group of Christian friends, "Ye have not chosen one another but I have chosen you for one another." The friendship is not a reward for our discriminating and good taste in finding one another out. It is the instrument by which God reveals to each of us the beauties of others."

13. Camp isn’t just a job, it’s home.

In the end, camp is more than going canoeing, swimming, playing Mighty Mighty, or eating a s’more in which you perfectly mastered the level of burntness of your marshmallow. Camp is making memories, camp is loving your job, and camp is finding your home away from home.