Hello All!
Long time no see! Our summer season is officially over, but we've been delightfully busy with school groups, weddings, and our G3 environmental program. It was very sad to see our summer staff go but we are excited to get started with promoting our upcoming programs!
In honor of our excellent summer staff, I thought I would write down five things that every counselor knows by the end of the summer.
1) Camp food is your friend - and boy does your body let you know if you miss a meal! Counselors have to keep their energy up to take on those waterfront stairs and trails every day. After camp your belly knows the meal schedule down the the minute, and complains very loudly if you don't feed it on time.
2) They know what goes bump in the night - and it's usually just acorns and frogs. Having a flashlight handy is always a good idea, but by the end of the summer counselors can navigate all the way back to their unit in the dark - and sometimes with no moon. What was that sound? Oh, probably just Bambi hanging out in the woods. No big deal.
3) They know at least five "waiting games" to play during camp outs and between times. Whether it's mafia, chi-master, slaps or ninja, they've always got something in their back pocket for those times when the fire needs their co's undivided attention or when everyone's waiting for the next activity.
4) Parents can get just as homesick for their kids as kids do for their parents. Some kids may be away from home for the first time, and a week can be a long time for a parent not to see their child. Counselors know that the best way to combat that empty-nest syndrome is to be as up-front and friendly as possible on check-in day to assure the parent that their child is in good hands for the week.
5) Very few people outside of camp understand just how awesome and crazy it is. So many counselors I've talked to say their friends "just don't get" the weird hours, the song singing, or the crazy desire to go tromping through the woods ("what if there's poison ivy? Or a raccoon!?") and set up camp in the middle of nowhere with a bunch of campers. But once you've gone through it, it's easy to see why we all come back again the next summer - the hours may be long, and the weather may not cooperate all the time, but man is it a good feeling to know that what you do makes an impact on someone else in the world.
Happy Camping!
