Halfway through my freshman year of college, I decided to apply for a job as a camp counselor at YMCA Camp Copneconic in Fenton, Michigan. After the interview and the paperwork, I was officially hired as an employee and I was ecstatic. I was ready for a fun filled summer. And boy what a summer it was! It was full of laughter, memories, too many hamburgers to count and a whole lot of sunscreen. I wouldn't have traded this summer for anything in the world. There are so many experiences from this summer that I will never forget. Like, how to create the perfect s'more and how to properly play Ulitmate Frisbee. However, along with the experiences came new life lessons as well. These lessons, along with the experiences that I hold near and dear to my heart, will never be forgotten. And here are a few:
1. It teaches you how awesome being active is.
Running, biking, swimming, kayaking, you name any high energy activity, I had to probably do it this summer. But not only is going to camp good for kids' health, it's good for yours too! Having a job where you are this active is hard to come across. You're constantly on the move and running from place to place. Plus you get to be outside all day and NOT stuck behind a desk.This job definitely taught me the importance of staying active and how important staying hydrated is. This job made me fall head over heels in love with being active and taught me all the different ways you can be.
2. You will learn to think on your feet.
In any job, it's important to be able to think fast on you feet. It's a hard trait to nail, but this job taught me to do so. It taught me how to quickly analyze all possible options in my head to try to pick the best suited outcome for the situation at hand. At first, it was hard. This job doesn't come with a rule book on how to handle all the types of situations thrown at you. Most of the time, you have to experience the situation to know how to handle it and each time you have to use your best judgement to figure out the problem. This job taught me it's okay to make mistakes because you'll learn from them. The lessons that you learned from your mistakes will help you in any future situation.
3. You learn to be more patient.
Before this job, I was probably the most impatient person ever. I hated waiting in long lines, got frustrated at the car in front of me at the drive through, and so on and so forth. Even Amazon Prime wasn't fast enough for me! But with this job I told myself that I had to be more patient. Kids can sometimes have a hard time understanding the instructions of an activity and can get confused over concepts that you may think are simple. The first couple of weeks were hard. I had to keep repeating to myself, "Be patient, they're just kids." As the summer progressed, I found myself saying that less and less. Being patient became natural. I realized now that outside of camp, I've turned into a pretty patient gal, and I couldn't be more happier.
4. You'll learn how to work with all types of people.
Unfortunately, we sometimes don't get along with everyone. And one of the hardest tasks you will have to do in your life, is work with someone that you don't necessarily see eye to eye with. This job taught me to do so. Sometimes when you have the responsibility of being a leader, you have to learn to lead with other people. Sometimes activities won't be led or taught the exact way you wanted them to. You have to be willing to compromise with not only yourself but with other people. From working in an environment with such a large staff, I learned how to work with so many different personalities, something I will without a doubt appreciate in the future.
5. It teaches you to be a kid again!
We live in a world today where we are in a hurry to grow up. And when we're all grown up, we wish we would have savored those days when we were a kid. Well if this job teaches you ANYTHING it's defiantly how to be a kid again. Not only are you surrounded by kids all day, you're in a environment where it's not only encouraged that you goof around, but its expected. I constantly found myself rolling around on the grass, playing freeze tag, pretending to be an evil spy, you name it, I definitely channeled my inner kid this summer. Being around kids all day reminds you to lighten up a bit. It reminded me to live more carefree because life is just more fun that way.
In the end, these are only a few out of the countless lessons I learned from this summer. Having a job as a camp counselor is something I wish everyone could have a chance to do. Because let me tell you, its a one of a kind, type of summer.
