13 Reasons Why You Should Work At A Summer Camp In 2024
If ever there was a time to work at a Summer Camp, then 2024 is that year!
Summer camp offers the perfect chance to get out and see the world.
Summer camp can provide you with a trunk full of memories and acts as a wonderful gateway to the whole of the USA.
You get a chance to experience working with kids (and adults) from all around the world and even get time to see some of the USA before and after.
We are going to outline 13 reasons why 2024 should be the year you work at a summer camp - you will definitely not regret it!
Meet friends from all around the world
This is the one that really sells the summer camp experience for us - it’s the reason we continue to go back year after year. When at camp, you get thrust into an environment with 200 other counselors from every corner of the globe.
You get to hang out on the ropes course with girls from Melbourne, or make candles in the art barn with guys from Cape Town.
Summer camp truly is where the world meets together to have an incredible summer.
It looks great on your CV
‘But summer camp isn’t even a real job?’
At times this can feel true. When you’re flying around the lake on the back of a banana boat at 2, then polishing off your 3rd ice-cream of the day at 4 (while getting paid for the privilege), you do sometimes have to remind yourself that it’s actually a real job you’re doing.
Just because it’s not your traditional 9-5 job, doesn’t mean that summer camp is any less challenging. To prospective employers, summer camp is an incredible CV builder. It shows you’re willing to put yourself out there, fly halfway across the world, and make a difference to the lives of hundreds of children.
If we saw summer camp on your CV, we’d certainly hire you!
Check out our guide to how to effectively put summer camp on your CV/resumé, so that you can see for yourself how impressive summer camp can look to potential employers.
Wondering how to be a camp counselor?
Click here to find out how to apply and get £25 off your visa fees!
Gives you the chance to be a kid again
At what other time in life are you going to get the chance to let your hair down, and be your true authentic self for an entire summer, without the fear of being judged?
At camp there is nowhere to hide. Trying to mask who you really are is impossible to do 24hrs a day, 7 days a week. Camp not only allows you to play like a kid all day long, bombing into the pool over and over again, it actively encourages it.
The pandemic has been a rough period for us all, so why not treat yourself and be a kid again, just for one summer (and the next summer, and another summer after that…).
There are many different types of camps but one thing is for sure, whichever camp you work at, you will love having fun and being able to be a kid again.
Summer camp counsellors playing on a climbing frame on the lake
You’ll have some incredible stories to tell
The chances are that if somebody you know has worked at a camp before, you’ll feel as though you worked there with them. You’ll know their camp’s name, their camp’s alma mater and even their camp’s color war chants.
It’s because when you go to camp, you come back with so many stories that you cannot wait to share with absolutely everybody - whether they’re listening or not.
Camp Counselor Suggestion: as well as telling all those stories, how about showing people photos and videos of those stories? A great gift idea for a summer camp counselor is a GoPro or camera - it means you can record all of your summer adventures and show everybody from home the evidence of the best summer of your life.
Summer Camp gives you the chance to travel all over the USA
The USA is roughly 40 times bigger than the UK - and certainly a lot bigger than the house that you’ve been confined to for the best part of a year while in and out of quarantines and lockdowns - which means there is a lot of the country to explore.
Summer camp is a great way to be introduced to the land of hopes and dreams. You can earn a wage while you’re working at camp, and then use that money to explore every corner of the USA.
Grab a few friends that you’ve met while working at camp and go explore the famous Boroughs of New York City together. Or why not hire a minivan and road-trip across Arizona to see the Grand Canyon? Why not try an organised tour?
The best places to travel to after camp are always even better when you’re travelling with the friends you’ve made throughout the summer.
Remember that when you are creating your summer camp counselor packing list, to factor in whether you are going to be travelling after camp or not. If you are, then a suitcase is going to be pretty bulky and a backpack might be more appropriate.
Experience working with kids
Working with kids may seem a little daunting at first but in reality, as long as you’ve got lots of energy, it’s going to be a breeze.
Particularly given the year we’ve had, the kids going to summer camp are just going to want some normality back into their lives. They are going to want to play with their friends and let off some steam, and it’s your job to make sure they are happy and safe while doing it.
Working with kids is great. The more energetic you are, the more they’ll love you. The more you listen to them, the more they’ll respect you.
Lots of people say they want to work at a camp to help the children have a great time, when in fact it’s the kids themselves that will be giving you the summer of a lifetime.
Learn new skills
Have you always been very arts and crafts orientated, but never had the time to enroll in a pottery class? Maybe you’ve always fancied learning how to play lacrosse, but didn’t want to embarrass yourself on the university team? Perhaps you’ve always been interested in abseiling, but have never been able to find a rock-climbing centre in your area?
Camp gives you the opportunity to learn the skills that you’ve always dreamed of having. Summer camps in the US train their staff members to make sure they can safely run their activity area before letting the children loose on camp.
If you’ve always wanted to give something new a try, summer camp is your chance.
Summer camp counsellors upside on high ropes course
You’re in a camp bubble
People have been speaking of ‘bubbles’ for a couple of years now, but the summer of 2024 can bring a whole new meaning to the term.
When we hear of the word ‘bubble’, we often associate it with shielding and quarantining. But at summer camp, there is a completely different meaning.
Being in a camp bubble means you have the chance to forget all about the troubles of the outside world. You get to switch off from your daily stresses, forget about work back at home or all the impending coursework you will have to submit in your next year at university/college. The only stress of the day is whether it’s grilled cheese or quesadillas for lunch.
Chance to escape social media for a summer
In a period of time where we’ve spent record amounts of time staring at our phones and computer screens and spent hours explaining to elderly relatives how to turn their camera on during Zoom calls, summer camp gives you the chance to switch off and disconnect from the world for a few short weeks.
Instead of scrolling through Instagram for an hour before bed, you’ll be roasting marshmallows over the campfire. You’ll be replacing your Facebook newsfeed with the latest camp gossip and transforming TikTok dances into whole-camp Zumba routines.
We all need to disconnect for a while, it’s healthy for us, but never more so than in 2024.
The children need to have a great summer
We’ve all faced a myriad of challenges throughout the pandemic, but think for a second how difficult it must have been for the younger generation?
To lose an entire period of their life without structured education, an entire period without seeing their friends regularly, without celebrating birthdays or Bar Mitzvahs. Camp is the one thing they’ve been looking forward to all year, and this is why you should work at a summer camp in 2024.
You’re going to become an instant hero to these children as you’re going to provide them with the one thing they’ve been longing for - camp.
Opportunity to grow as a person
You definitely learn a thing or two about yourself when you have 5 kids jumping on your bed at 6 in the morning, having only gone to bed yourself 5 hours ago.
We tend to think that we stop learning once we finish school, but working at camp shatters that perception. You get to learn your strengths, of which there will be more than you originally thought, and you also get to learn your weaknesses, which shall be worked on all summer long.
Camp will give you a new found confidence that can’t be found in any other workplace. You will honestly come back from camp as a new person - a better version of yourself.
Summer camp counsellors embracing
Stepping stone to longer-travel
Camp is the perfect way to dip your feet into the idea of long-term travel.
You may not have ever left the country by yourself before, so the thought of solo-backpacking around South America may seem completely unachievable for you at this stage of your life, and that’s absolutely fine.
Summer camp is a happy medium - yes you have to get on that flight, get to your hotel and make your way to camp by yourself, but once you’re there, everything is taken care of for you.
You can use these mini experiences to give you the confidence to travel after camp with your new friends and then who knows, maybe your wanderlust will flourish from there?
See how summer camp can be a great long-term travel option, even for couples. After all, we went to camp for one summer, and we’ve been travelling around the world ever since.
What else are you going to do this summer?
This may seem like a funny thing to do, but ask yourself, what else are you going to be doing this summer?
Flights, hostels and activities are not back to pre-pandemic levels of operation yet, and certainly not down to the low-costs they used to be. So why not experience something that is cheap to do, and can fill your summer with 100s of incredible memories?
You have the chance to have the best summer of your life by working at a summer camp, so you should take it with both hands. Trust us, you won’t regret it. Maybe you should even consider working at the best summer camp in the US?
Keep up-to-date with our blog for more Summer Camp resources, tips and information. If this post has inspired you to work at camp this summer, then perhaps you will be needing tips on becoming a great summer camp counselor.
