Job Description

Camp Counselor

A camp counselor is the dream job of every little kid. When I was younger, I spent all my time at a summer camp with my camp counselors. I would climb on them and tell them all my secrets. At the time, I thought that they were the most special people in the world. I thought they were superhuman. 

A camp counselor is someone who babysits children; except it requires ten times the amount of effort. There are many different types of summer camps, each having different activities and themes. During the summers of high school, I worked for a Chinese culture camp. Having attended this camp since I was in elementary school, I wished to give the younger campers the same experience I once had.

Three words summarize this job:

• Listener

• Mascot

• Superhero

Listener

“Kids say the darndest things.” Anyone with experience with children knows this phrase cannot be more true.

Before I was able to eat lunch, I had to serve the campers their meals. So by the time I sat down and began to eat my own lunch, the children had finished their meals and were becoming restless. Having nothing else to do but talk, the campers picked me as their helpless target, talking to me nonstop. They would tell me crazy stories about their lives, their parents' lives, their neighbors' lives, and the lives of everybody they knew.

When it comes to gossip, there are always stereotypes of adults talking about each other behind each other's backs. But, children have the least filter. No matter the situation, they spill life stories unprompted. 

But being a listener is important for forming relationships with campers. Because children are temperamental, having a general idea about their likes and dislikes is essential in gaining their trust. The greatest skill I gained during my time as a camp counselor is how to manage such a large flow of information and properly digest it. I came to enjoy my one-sided conversations with my campers, for they helped me connect with them more.

Mascot

Once you become a counselor, the children automatically view you as their personal mascot. Because you spend so much time with them, they start to make you do things for them, like a personal servant.

At the camp I worked at, each group of about thirty to forty campers was a different “team”. There were about three to four counselors assigned to each team. One day, after lunch, the campers went to play tag on the field. Being bored playing by themselves, they began to drag the male counselors into their game. They forced us to give them piggybacks as we ran around, joining their game. Even though I felt tired at the end of the game, the campers seemed to be even more energetic than ever, wanting to continue playing. 

Being a mascot for children is not an easy job. After many long hours, I still needed to be lively to interact with the campers. Having the willpower to continue dealing with them was something that I am still surprised I had.

Superhero

Campers look up to camp counselors with a sense of wonder. Providing campers with the best experience possible is the main role of a counselor. To be a counselor, I needed to be a superhero: flexible, responsible, and always vigilant.

I had to juggle responsibilities such as helping campers with art and crafts or making sure the food prepared was free of allergens. Having close to no time for breaks, the life of a counselor was tough. But, I needed to be there for my campers. Being a jack of all trades, I helped both the campers and the staff in a variety of ways to ensure that the camp ran smoothly.

The children might have viewed me as a superhero, but I knew that I was just doing my best in providing the best experience for them. 

I loved my time as a camp counselor. On the last day of camp, all the campers and counselors signed my shirt with sharpies and markers. I promised to keep them in my memories. After going home, I left that shirt on a chair in my room. My dad, mistaking it for dirty laundry, washed the shirt, erasing all the signatures on the shirt. Although the signatures faded, my memories never did. And thus ended my days as a camp counselor.

Passive voice: 0 sentences

Flesch Reading Ease: 72.2

Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level: 6.8