There is really no summer job like that of a camp counselor, but this is something you come to know only once you have taken it on. Working pretty much 24 hours a day, dealing with crazy campers and planning even crazier activities gets tiring, but it is also one of the most rewarding things you could ever choose to do with your time.
Being lucky enough to spend last summer at Camp Edwards in East Troy, Wis., I found a few things that I could have only learned through the long days and memorable nights spent with a few people I will never forget.
1. There is always going to be a camper who forgets to put on their swimsuit for their water skill. Every. Single. Day.
2. No Instagram filter could do a sunset over the lake justice.
3. It is easier than you would believe to convince your skill that your camp is located on the same lake as the houses of Britney Spears and Tiger Woods.
4. Sneaking pieces of banana bread before meals is sometimes the only way you will be able to eat.
5. Every conversation with fellow counselors starts with screaming, “Hey! Hey! It’s me! Shelbey! Shelbey from camp!”
6. Three days with a cabin of six year-olds seems to last as long as an entire two-week session.
7. Homesickness is easily cured with some water, a simple craft and singing “You Are My Sunshine” over and over.
8. Teenage boy campers seem to think that the counselors don’t see them flirting with the teenage girl campers (we do).
9. French toast sticks for breakfast most definitely sets a positive precedent for the rest of the day.
10. You know all the tricks to convince your parents and friends back home to send you letters and care packages.
11. Half your music library is inspirational voice-overs and sound bites to use for devotions and bedtime stories.
12. There will always be that one camper who tries to go to their skills without a shirt on.
13. Campers will find your Twitter and Instagram accounts and they will follow you until you have no choice but to block them.
14. Your already small paycheck always seems to disappear when theme weeks come around.
15. Friends from home get annoyed with all the stories that start with, “That one time at summer camp…”
16. It is a disappointing day when you find that your camera cannot take a picture of the stars that you cannot even find the words to describe when you are stargazing.
17. Camouflage bear shirts are only a fashion statement at camp.
18. And so are cat shirts.
19. “Today is the day you guys get to paint your counselor!” is a perfectly legitimate and very amusing cabin activity.
20. A Candy Land monster becomes a staple of flagpole skits for years.
21. You have to make sure the storyteller knows the story of “Jonah and the Whale” before totally making it up during Chapel.
22. A game of Ninja is a perfect icebreaker.
23. You will start calling fully grown adults “Bud” out of habit.
24. Eight to 12 year-old girls are the greatest self-esteem boost when they see you in “normal people clothes.”
25. Because camp clothes consist of tie-dyed t-shirts, running shorts, and the occasional groutfit.
26. There is always going to be a camper who forgets to put on their swimsuit for their water skill. Every. Single. Day.
27. Always make sure you check the weather before you decide to sleep out in the pines.
28. Your best friends live in other states, maybe even overseas, and attend different schools, but you can reunite after months apart and pick back up as if no time has passed.
29. During the off-season, you will never be without handwritten letters from camp friends, written, “just to check in.”
30. No matter where life takes you, there is always going to be something in your mind that takes you back to the best memories of your life at summer camp.
