Tag: overnight camp counselor

Camp Counselor: More Than an Internship

Posted on by PineForest

This guest blog post was written by all-star former counselor and year round Staff Coordinator, Elly Wallace.

Many people will tell you that the key to a successful future in the workplace is a solid internship related to your field of (potential) expertise.  While that may be true for a lot of people and a lot of careers, a job as a camp counselor can give you the skills to succeed in not only the workplace, but in all aspects of your life.  We’ve come up with three major things a summer camp job has the potential to provide, but like anything else, you get out what you put in.

Confidence

One of summer camp’s greatest qualities is its appreciation for individuality.  The most notable counselors are the ones who sing the loudest, dress the craziest, and are willing to participate in any and all activities that his or her campers come up with.  At camp, it’s hard to feel embarrassed.  It is surprisingly easy to step out of your comfort zone and into the uninhibited summer camp lifestyle.

Selflessness

While being a camp counselor can give you a great deal of self-understanding and important life skills, the most successful counselors are those who are not at camp for themselves, but for the campers.  Camp teaches you how to put the needs of your campers, or of any group, above your own.  In order to deal with confrontations, homesickness, shower hour, and anything else that comes your way in the bunk, you have to know how to prioritize.  As camp counselor, you are truly a surrogate parent for your campers and, while their problems may seem small to you, to them they are big and should be treated accordingly.

Leadership Ability

At camp, campers do not judge your ability to show them how to kick a soccer ball, make a friendship bracelet, or ride a zip line.  We find that campers instantly idolize a counselor’s ability to do anything, giving you a solid platform to develop and transform your leadership skills from the get-go.  You’ve been hired as a camp counselor and specialist in a specific activity; your accountability is already there.  This gives you the time to focus on building your character, integrity, commitment, enthusiasm, and open-mindedness.

Interested in working at PFC? Check out our staff page!

A New Worldview

Posted on by PineForest

Sometimes, with all that is going on in our lives, it is too easy to feel like the world is made up of just our friends, family and the people we see (whether in person or on social media) on a regular basis. We might gravitate toward and spend time with people from the same places, same culture and similar backgrounds and can often forget that the world is so much bigger with so much more to offer than we realize.

The great thing about an experience at camp is that whether you are a camper or a staff member, being at camp will definitely make you view the world differently! We are so excited to hire extraordinary, skilled counselors from all around the world. We have staff recruiting trips to London, Manchester, Budapest, Czech Republic, as well as Oregon, Ohio and Kansas. We have campers that represent 15 states and 3 countries. Camp gives you the benefit of coming into contact with people from many different schools, communities, countries and cultures.

Diversity brings so much to the camp experience and helps us see the world differently, but we also come to realize that we’re not that different from one another. These relationships help us to grow and teach us about getting along with others, and not just the people we see as similar to us. It’s just one more thing that proves how much camp can teach you.

It’s amazing to realize that there is so much more out there, and spending a summer at camp, with people from all over, gives us a greater understanding of ourselves, other people, our country, and the world!

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