What I Learned From Being A Camp Counselor

Abigail Kwak is a Class of 2020 graduate from Bryn Mawr Higher. She majored in English language, with a concentration in Creative Writing and a modest in History of Fine art. During her downtime, she enjoys painting, writing poems, and watching cat videos. Abigail'southward resumé and job interview fabric were enhanced afterward learning life-lessons from an unexpected place—camp!

Guest-written by Abigail Kwak

Working for a 24-hour interval camp during the summer break may seem cliché to some people, simply honestly… I like a job that keeps me on my toes. Trust me, working with kids all day accomplishes that. As a Bryn Mawr College Class of 2020 graduate with a major in English language, a concentration in Creative Writing, and a minor in History of Art, working with kids seems like the farthest thing from my line of study. Merely equally someone who worked with kids in loftier school and who currently volunteers with a Japanese-English speech plan, I wasn't going into the job unprepared. To some, running around after kids all 24-hour interval isn't the ideal way to get job experience, just existence a counselor helped me run into the touch on that I could brand on someone else's life. Working with kids can teach lessons that tin, unexpectedly, be transferred over to a professional career. It teaches you how to talk to and empathize with campers of different ages and backgrounds. It makes you recollect on your feet during disastrous situations. And it shows employers that yous're willing to dive headfirst into helping others. Because if the summer rut can't terminate yous, then nothing can and zippo will. Thinking virtually being a camp advisor? Here are the three most of import lessons I learned while I spent my summer as a military camp counselor: 1. How to Evidence Empathy (even with difficult people… or kids) On any given day at summer camp, one moment everything is fine—yous call back you lot'll make it through snack time in the humid July heat with no trouble—just the adjacent moment, you're pulling two campers aside and calmly trying to explain to them why we tin't take the h2o directly from the h2o cooler and have water fights to cool down. Now, why e'er would kids take the drinking h2o and take h2o fights outside during snack fourth dimension? To understand that, ane must think of the state of affairs through the camper's eyes. Well, water fights happened because it'southward hot out and there is limited shade! In these situations, information technology was always helpful for me to try and sympathize where the camper was coming from, and why they did what they did. Thinking beyond myself, and empathizing with another person, no matter who or how one-time they might be, is a lesson that I took from my job and one that I notwithstanding recollect to this day. When faced with a problem, it'southward important to think of it from the other person's perspective. Inquire yourself why they are throwing water on themselves… then try to understand information technology. 2. How to Retrieve Fast, and Make Decisions Even Faster One day, while watching over campers during lunchtime, I noticed that the plastic box we stored the glass marbles in had a thin lining of shattered glass glistening at the bottom. Immediately, I did the mental calculations. Every twenty-four hour period the marbles were thrown back in, shaken back and forth, or but cached nether new marbles, and at present the lesser layer of marbles had been slowly chipping abroad, creating tiny shards of drinking glass just waiting to wreak havoc. "Oh," I thought, "I should make sure that the campers don't bear upon that anymore." No sooner had the thought crossed my heed when 1 camper, finished with her lunch and excited to play, sat downwards and dumped the entire box of drinking glass marbles on the fluffy carpet. Marbles and glass shards spread out everywhere and I watched, in horror, as my camper saturday in the splash zone. Panic rushed through me and I struggled to keep my vox calm as I told all the campers not to move. When something goes wrong, stay calm and think on your feet. I instructed the surprised camper to get exterior and jump up and downward for several minutes (in hopes of getting whatsoever glass off) and ran to another classroom and got a teacher to help me vacuum up the mess. It was my responsibleness to make sure that the campers were safe, which meant making a dissever-second decision on how to help campers without scaring them. In stressful situations, think: Take a deep breath and focus on making a decision as quickly, and calmly, as possible. three. Be Proud of the Impact You lot Brand Every bit a advisor, I was in accuse of the Orton-Gillingham Reading Program, which was a six-week form that aimed to help campers meliorate grammer and reading. The sadness of those students was practically palpable. It's summertime and you're doing more classwork? Even if it is beneficial, it doesn't go far less annoying. One afternoon, after the camp was over, I was cleaning up a classroom when a camper and his mom came in. The mom had stopped by to give thanks me for taking care of her son and for helping him with his reading. I was proud of how far he had improved since the beginning of the summer and I appreciated his patience in learning. The son, continuing to the side and listening to me talk to his mom, got and then embarrassed at being complimented that he, for reasons unknown to me, began doing push-ups on the footing. I had to stop myself from laughing and his mom just smiled. It was at this moment that I realized I was making a positive impact on someone'southward life. At camp, kids were looking to me as a leader. In any role, I e'er try to call back that I am making a difference in my own unique way .

Photo credit: The Elisabeth Morrow School

Being a military camp advisor isn't how most people imagine spending their summer interruption, only it'south a task that everyone should consider. The piece of work presents new challenges and encourages workers to think exterior their condolement zone. You lot never know what to expect on a typical camp mean solar day! While information technology's sometimes difficult, existence a advisor really filled me with a sense of achievement. The job isn't sitting at a computer all 24-hour interval or doing coffee runs. No—instead it'southward edifice connections, agreement others, acting under pressure, and appreciating the bear upon fabricated on someone else's life. I never expected information technology at the time, but the summer I spent every bit a military camp advisor enhanced my resumé in the all-time ways, providing me with the skills and experience that tin can transfer to any work environment … along with some funny campsite stories to share in my next interview.

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