so what exactly is it that you do?

that's a good question i guess. since working at a camp i have often been asked, what is it that you do? it's not summer, how much could there be to do? it is summer so you must be a cabin counselor.

well let me tell you, there are many things to do and many ways to do them. and i have never been an employed cabin counselor at a camp.

i will be the first to admit, some days there isn't that much heavy lifting to be done. and some days my job consists of just being here in case something happens. and some days you work 14 hours without stopping to sit down other than to eat in the dining hall full of people and noise. but i think it all balances out. you learn to take the light days when they come because inevitably there will be a 14 hour day in your future.

some days it consists of having the leader for the group using the camp ask you to ambush their rec team with water balloons because they have been doing it to everyone else. which you gladly do and then spend the rest of the morning soaking wet. but to the average camp worker, those days are the best days.

some days it consists of having talks with your college age employees (while making bracelets) about what they should do with their lives and how they should get there.

some days it consists of crying in your office because you reach your limit. what limit, i'm not really sure. but some limit and you just need to cry. maybe too many 14 hr days in a row. maybe it seems no one on staff hears you. they may listen, but they don't hear you. maybe you hit your shin on that same box that you hit it on 5 times already today but haven't taken the time to move. maybe it has nothing to do with work.

some days it consists of moving 6000 t-shirts. actually that was just one day at the beginning of summer. but who knew how heavy a box of t-shirts could be?

some days you love it.

some days you search the internet for places to run away.

and some days you just aren't sure why you are here.

but then you hear a story. from some adult or older teenager. and they tell you about how camp changed their life. how that summer at that camp made a lasting difference to them. so no matter what your job at that camp, each part plays a role in shaping the experience of each camper. so some days you may wonder what you are doing as a grown person working at some job that has you doing who knows what. but alas, the camp experience changes lives.

i do not think i am a lifer in the camp industry (i could be wrong), i dont really think im a lifer in any industry, but this is where i am right now. if i were not meant to be here, i would be somewhere else. so until that somewhere else presents itself, this is where i will be.

some days working long hours, so long that you forget what day it is. some days sitting around waiting for something to need doing.

but what exactly do we do? we change lives. for worse or better. that's what we do.

(if you are curious as to what i actually do day to day, hour to hour, no worries, i will begin chronicalling that in my next post)