We met at camp our first year as counsellors for the second youngest age group at camp, Adventurers. Going from complete strangers to co-workers, roommates and eventual friends, we shared many laughs and tears as the summer progressed. Martha came from the Maritimes, a lifelong camper and staff in her home province of New Brunswick. A camper by blood, Cate has known nothing but Glen Bernard and made the jump from camper to staff the previous summer. Working as a summer camp counsellor is incomparable to any job either of us have or will ever do. You have a lot of responsibility riding on your shoulders and campers who look up to you as role models, holding you to the highest of standards. It’s not often in your lifetime you find a job as rewarding as working at camp. We feel as though we could name hundreds of reasons why we love our summer job, but that would be rambling. Instead, here are our top 10 reasons why we love our summer job:
1. Hugs and high-fives every night before bed
2. Our summer sisters
3. Going to bed exhausted because you know you had as much fun as possible
4. Working on a team of passionate, hardworking staff who value every minute they spend under open skies
5. Providing a nurturing and safe environment for campers to make mistakes and grow from them
6. Growing and learning something new everyday
7. The small moments are just as valuable as the big
8. Being able to be a kid again
9. Spending the whole summer with the most amazing campers
10. Leaving every year with memories that will last a lifetime
We have spent four years together on staff, and every year is always full of its fair share of surprises, but the magic of camp grows stronger each season. We’ve lived together for three years, our jobs and responsibilities growing with each summer season. Sharing many highs and lows and forming forever friendships. But we wouldn’t trade our summer home for anything. It’s given us more tangible life experiences than any job or internship could offer, and for that we’re so grateful. Being a counsellor is so much more than a summer job, and we don’t take that for granted.
-Martha Moore & Cate Palm