The Rewards & Challenges of Camp Counseling

Like other careers, being a camp counselor has its advantages and disadvantages. After reading this essay, you must determine if the advantages of this work exceed the disadvantages, which will cover both sides.

Benefits of working as a camp counselor

You get to serve as an inspiration

Camp counselors soon establish themselves as one of the coolest (and most impactful) individuals in the campers’ life for whatever length they can engage with them. Because they spend so much time with children, camp counselors, in particular, may have an influence.

You can disconnect from mobiles

There may not be much Wi-Fi in the forests and lakes, but there is enough wildlife waiting for you to disconnect and enjoy. It’s wonderful to be surrounded by nature’s splendor.

Enhance your resume

You will be able to proudly state on your resume that you not only survived a summer working for Christian Camps Indiana but also flourished in the setting, thanks to the experiences you have gained from doing so. Former camp counselors excel in various areas, including effective communication, lifelong learning, leadership, teamwork, and creative thinking.

Enduring relationships

You will meet some amazing individuals quickly after arriving at Indiana Christian Camps to begin the summer training programs. Simply under their presence, your coworkers are among the greatest because, like you, they sacrificed their summer vacation to learn, develop, and positively influence others. Living and working with other college students for three full months will inevitably result in forming lifelong friendships.

Interview resources

You will undoubtedly learn skills and shortcomings from your time at Christian Camps Indianapolis that you may discuss in an interview, not to mention the wild tales you can tell.

Network among peers

Your coworkers won’t all be majoring in elementary education. In reality, you will come across many other majors who have pursued unusual summer employment, just as you have. A great opportunity to broaden your peer network to include people from all walks of life and throughout the nation.

Clean air

You can rest and refresh in the vast outdoors, whether you believe it. The benefits of taking the time to embrace the early dawn and stay up late beneath a starry sky are more than you would have ever thought. Anyone can benefit from a little dirt, right?

Your capacity for leadership develops

Working at a camp offers many opportunities to develop your leadership abilities since you will inevitably be asked to take the lead. Whether in charge of a small group of campers or other staff members, you will be looked to for guidance and experience.

You’ll discover a lot about yourself

Camp life is fantastic, but it’s also difficult. It’s possible that you don’t know how to handle an issue with a camper, your weeklong co-counselor may not share your sense of humor, and some days may seem to drag on forever—is it time for lights out yet? But it’s at these times that you show your true colors. By the end of the summer, you will have discovered so much about yourself and will be able to look back with pride on all you have accomplished.

Drawbacks of working as a camp counselor

After going through the benefits of working as a camp counselor, it’s time to talk about some of the difficulties camp counselors encounter on the job.

Working when it’s hot

When temperatures reach the upper 30s, both campers and workers may get tired and sunburnt. Of course, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. Spending much time outside, beach, or pool is the ideal camp setting. Water balloons and sponges are essential and utilized a lot during our campers’ water activities, so we make sure to have enough of both. The heat may also cause monitors and instructors to spend 90% of their free time at the pool or the beach! Staff members are often seen lugging liter water bottles about and applying sunblock regularly to assist with the heat.

Cabin fever

Everyone usually speaks about the “camp bubble,” wherein people who work and live in camp prefer to forget about the outside world and spend their whole day and night at camp. This might be difficult since your mind may feel exhausted from continually thinking and talking about camp. Fortunately, there are numerous simple solutions to this problem. For example, making an attempt to talk to someone about anything other than camp or making a short call home during your break allow you to temporarily escape. Outside, the office always provides a break; whether you go for ice cream, coffee, or some tapas on your night off, you suddenly realize how beautiful the world is. The craziest part is that after one of these vacations, you start looking forward to returning to work with the campers and other staff members!

Tiredness

Anyone who has dealt with children previously understands how exhausting it can be to work with them. Christian Camps Cincinnati is a nonstop, energetic, and exciting atmosphere. Camp labor is undoubtedly difficult when you’re weary yet have to keep going. Many employees swear by taking naps during their downtime to recharge and having a full day off on the weekend also comes in handy to catch up on some rest. Different individuals deal with this in different ways. We all watch out for one another at camp since helping out a fatigued colleague may make their day easier. Working as a team and supporting one another only makes the task simpler. But in the end, the campers make the fatigue worthwhile and assist in making it go away. Sometimes you want to curl up in bed, but you see how enthusiastic the campers are for Capture the Flag, and you get your energy from them. Your eyes may start drooping, but your spirits soar when a fellow camper requests that you perform a song. You may forget about your fatigue and concentrate on having fun with the campers with something as basic as a hug from them.

The fact that camp counselors impact the kids that come to camps makes every obstacle on camp worthwhile. Camp counselors assist the campers in many ways by acting as their surrogate parents and accepting complete responsibility for them, keeping them cool and engaging in pool activities, and working through our fatigue to provide the greatest evening entertainment. There is no greater motivation to work on camp than that!