Camp/Counsellors

Lyri

Lyri

Buckle Up Tight
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Sineya
Next summer (2010) I want to go and work at a Summer Camp in the States, as a Counsellors, so I'm here for your stories.

Did gou go to Camp? What was it like? Did you have a good time?

Have you worked as a Counsellor? Was it hard work? Did you get paid? Or was it more 'work for room and board' deal?

Has any UK people ever gone to be a Counsellor? How did that work out for you?

Does anyone have any websites they think I should look at before I start the process?

Thanks for you help, guys! 😀
 
B
Blondie Bear
Just saw your status. AHAHAHA!
I went to a lot of Christian-themed camps as a kid. They tended to only run for 3 days to a week, though; they wanted you to be able to go home and go to church on Sunday.

I did counsel at one of them, and it was an interesting experience; I had to lead Bible studies and junk for a bunch of sophomores (I was a senior at the time). It helped that I was friends with a lot of them.

I would worry about the kids being sassy and questioning your authorit-a. 😀
 
I've been a counselor at the same camp for two years, and I'm going there again this year. We make about $200 for the whole summer (a little less than a dollar an hour), so it's way below minimum wage, but it's not exactly hard labor and we have short days, so I wouldn't complain. Plus, I went to camp there when I was a kid, so it's a familiar environment and I have friends there.

I was one of the two art counselors last year, but, since we didn't always have kids in there, we spent most of our time watching DVDs. We got all the way through Buffy and Angel last year (although we did skip quite a few and we didn't even watch seasons 3 and 4 because she just wanted to see more Spike), and we sort of made a ritual out of watching nerdy TV shows together...during the year, we get together and watch different shows. This year so far, we got through Dr. Who and Firefly, and this sumer, I plan to convince her that Battlestar Galactica isn't boring.
 
Lyri said:
Next summer (2010) I want to go and work at a Summer Camp in the States, as a Counsellors, so I'm here for your stories.

Did gou go to Camp? What was it like? Did you have a good time?

Have you worked as a Counsellor? Was it hard work? Did you get paid? Or was it more 'work for room and board' deal?

Has any UK people ever gone to be a Counsellor? How did that work out for you?

Does anyone have any websites they think I should look at before I start the process?

Thanks for you help, guys! 😀
Click to expand...

I have been to a few summer camps and remember having a lot of fun. I was about twelve and fourteen I think. I think all kids should attend a summer camp at least once. We got to horse back ride and kayak and it was a lot of fun. I remember the camp counselors being really cool, and teenagers (gasp!) so I really looked up to them. I imagine it would be a fun job. I don't think they pay very well, but I'm sure it's a great experience with much potential for memory-making 🙂

Have fun Lyri! Be sure to tell us all about your adventures with the kiddies.

What age are the campers going to be, do you know?

---------- Post added at 12:41 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:39 PM ----------

Blondie Bear said:
I went to a lot of Christian-themed camps as a kid. They tended to only run for 3 days to a week, though; they wanted you to be able to go home and go to church on Sunday.

I did counsel at one of them, and it was an interesting experience; I had to lead Bible studies and junk for a bunch of sophomores (I was a senior at the time). It helped that I was friends with a lot of them.

I would worry about the kids being sassy and questioning your authorit-a. 😀
Click to expand...

I went to a Christian-themed one as well, but I think my mother chose it only because it was the closest one around. I actually got in trouble and ended up suspended for a day for swearing to the councelor, lol. I was quite the rebellious one back then. 😉
 
Joan the Vampire Slayer said:
What age are the campers going to be, do you know?
Click to expand...

Right now, I'm just looking into the details, so I don't know where I'm going or what age the kids will be, but I don't think I'll have a problem with any age group, so I'm good in that respect.
 
I was a camp counselor for a summer once. I dont care for kids but I loved the staff. It was long work and I didnt see my family much but I enjoyed it. I came in on a Sunday afternoon and stayed night and day until Saturday afternoon when I got to go home. But I made about $200/wk so it wasnt bad.

Staff week was the best week. The kids we had weren't too rebellious. I actually had more trouble with a girl who was too clingy. She wouldnt do anything or go anywhere without me. For me, that was the harder than someone who rejected my "authority". *snicker*

We did have a boys week. As a female, I wasn't a counselor that week but we ran games and things like that. That was the week the newest Harry Potter movie came out so we snuck off camp with one of the girls cars with no lights on really late to catch the show. It was fun. I liked boys week better because I dont like how fragile girls can be. You can raid a boy's cabin at midnight with waterballoons and expect revenge. The girls would just cry.

Every friday we would have a talent show (with no winners of course) and it was pretty cool to see some of the stuff the kids would come up with.

Overall, I really enjoyed it. My only real free time was spent napping and showering, but I got really tan and ate fabulous.

I hope your experience is the same. 🙂
 
Lyri, you should totally do it! I went through a wonderful site called Camp Staff (CampStaff - Summer Camp Jobs for Counselors and Staff: A Searchable Directory of Jobs at Camps Across America) when I was 19 and worked at a camp for a summer in 2001. It was the absolute best experience of my life and I made some wonderful lifelong friends. I would have went back in a heartbeat, but I ended up getting pregnant and married before I could go back. However, I'm definitely looking into doing it again if my husband ever gets deployed. The camp I went to had international counselors, so there were people there from all over the world and I got exposed to so much culture and wonderful people as a result of going there.
However, you never know what you're getting yourself into as far as the kids are concerned, I'll warn you of that right off the bat. Most summer camps here in the states are pretty expensive, so a lot of the kids that go come from rich families and some of them are MAJORLY spoiled and bratty. But some of them are the sweetest, most wonderful kids you could ever hope to meet. I had a cabin filled full of spoiled little rich girls who made my life hell, but I was co-drama director, so the kids I got to direct in the camp's plays were absolutely wonderful and made my life better for having met them. 😀
If you do it, my advice is to be their counselor first, friend second. I made the mistake of trying too hard to be friends and they didn't respect me one bit. But yeah, definitely look into Camp Staff! 😀
 
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