How Summer Camp is Helping Build Strong Leaders

The world is moving faster than ever before, as a younger generation drives changes in social norms and as technology speeds up life, there is a well coined phrase to sum it all up… ‘it’s 2018'.

Yet, somethings aren’t changing at breakneck speed and in a world still full of graduating millennials, ‘twenty-somethings’ and nameless interns, there is one route that thousands of young adults continue to take to develop strong leadership skills… the summer camp counselor.

Summer is often the months we look forward to the most, the warmer air and longer days brings hope and expectation that the season is going to be filled with adventure and memories. For some, summer also brings the pressure of finding work, whether it’s to fill the gap between college years or simply to get out of the house for 2 months and save a little money. The challenge that tens of thousands of 18–25 year olds face is searching for the perfect summer internship that’s going to be worth the investment of their time.

The purpose of this article is not to knock internships or grad schemes, whilst there are some great internships out there that will lead to amazing things, the summer camp counselor always has, and will continue to be a safe bet for developing a variety of sought after skills.

In a 20th century career path it was a common theme to join a company in an entry position and crawl your way up the career ladder, often investing 20 years or more in the company to reach that point.

Times have changed.

The world has become more flexible, and employers are looking for skilled candidates with growth mindsets to come in hitting the ground running. The environment of summer camp supports this type of growth in many ways. Here’s why…

Communication

The summer camp environment is crazy, at times you have 500+ campers aged 6–16 years old running all over the place. As a camp counselor you will quickly learn to communicate effectively with other staff to look after a large number of children. This is tough, it’s tiring and it’s a non-stop challenge for two months. You have to adapt to changing situations, notice body language shifts in staff and campers and balance multiple personalties within a group. By learning to communicate you are creating conditions for success.

Responsibility

Unlike most internships, as a camp counselor you are often responsible for looking after staff and dozens of children. For 2 months parents are trusting you to look after their most prized possession. They are fragile and will look up to you. You are their cooler older sibling, at times you are almost like a mother or father figure to them. They will rely on you for help and guidance and you must be there for them and learn how to deal with them on off days. This is what responsibility looks like. It’s around the clock work.

Nurturing

Camp is a gift that so many parents are lucky enough to be able to give to their children. It’s a privilege to go to camp but that doesn’t mean everything is always perfect. It’s an environment where children (and staff) can really start to find themselves. There will be homesickness, there can be bullying, cliques, puberty issues, social issues, gender issues and so on. This is real life but it happens in a more controlled environment where it can be spotted. Through these times, a camp counselor must learn to be nurturing, empathetic and caring to a level far beyond what they might think they are capable of. This is what personal growth looks like. You invest your time for other people and in return you build trust and compassion from others.

Leadership

Strong leadership is the foundation brick to building something that lasts, whether it’s a sports team, a global company or even a family! Leadership can’t be learnt over night, nor can it be simply defined. It’s takes a combination of many skills to learn to be a good leader. Camp provides an environment for this. Camp is a positive, inspirational place, everyone there is in pursuit of the same vision and purpose and for that reason self-development happens there. For many camp counselors it’s a sense of growing independence whilst working in a place that promotes team building, creativity, empathy, honesty, integrity, decision making and accountability. You will be pushed hard and after two months you will have grown 10ft taller.

Year on year young adults come to camp to experience new cultures, get a different perspective and to really embrace the challenge.

It will be the hardest job you ever love.