As parents, you entrust counselors with your children, well, I guess you mostly entrust the directors or owners of the summer camp, but in reality, counselors are the ones who are with your children most of the time. According to the American Camp Association there are over 12,000 summer camps in the United States, and they employ over 1.5 million people each year, most of whom are counselors. Are these people trustworthy?
Summer camp counselors are notoriously underpaid and overworked, at least that is what we will tell you if you ask, and there is some truth to it. It is true in the same way that parenting is often referred to as the hardest job in the world. I know this because it has been nearly twenty years since I last taught water-skiing, mountain biking, or canoeing as a camp counselor and I am now a parent.Popular culture would have you believe that camp counselors spend the vast majority of their time focused on partying with other counselors (think Meatballs part 1 through 4) and put very little energy into the job of protecting, nurturing, and teaching your kids. Well, I cannot speak for all of us, but this is the perspective of one former summer camp counselor.
So as I contemplate sending my own daughter off to summer camp for the first time, I have a much different perspective on summer camps the role of the camp counselor. As I think back on my summers as a counselor in Pennsylvania and in California in the mid-1990’s, I am easily transported to a time when my life’s priorities were much different than they are today. Yes, of course, the social aspect of living and working alongside a group of fun and energetic people my age was a significant part of the experience, but in hindsight it was not the most meaningful aspect of my time as a counselor. The lasting impression those summers had on my life came largely from the emotional imprint of guiding and mentoring the campers who were in our care. I don’t think I am alone in this feeling, I believe that while counselors often form lifelong friendships with each other (and sometimes even get into some shenanigans on their evenings off), it is the experience of working both individually and as a team to mentor young people that defines those summers for camp counselors.
Now, as I consider entrusting my own child to the care of a camp director, I know that it is those camp counselors who will interact most often with my daughter. And I trust that just like I did so many years ago, they may let loose from time to time in their off hours, but when they are “on-duty” (which is most of the time) they will have their campers best interest at heart and in doing so enrich their own lives for many years to come. Because while popular culture suggests that the life of a camp counselor is focused on partying, the truth is much more rewarding for the counselors and reassuring for parents like me.
This post was written by Gabe Millar.
