What is a Camp Counselor?

This somes up the experience of being a Summer Camp Counselor. Being a counselor is one of the most demanding and at the same time rewardng jobs you can have. Believe it or not you imapct these kids for life. After five years as a counselor i've seen the result's as some my campers are now staff. I hope you find as much meaning in your job and your experience at camp as I did. Take pride in the work you've done and all the memories and friendships you've made and enjoy this poem.

Somewhere between adolescence and adulthood, there occurs, in human development an age which is physically and psychologically Impossible. It is in this unfathomable stage that we find the Camp Counselor - a creature undefined by psychologists, misunderstood by camp directors, worshipped by campers, either admired or doubted by parents, and unheard of by the rest of society.

A camp counselor is a rare combination of doctor, lawyer, indian and chief. He is a competent child psychologist with his sophomore textbook as proof. He is an underpaid babysitter with neither television nor refrigerator. He is a strict disciplinarian with a twinkle in his eye - a minister to all faiths with questions about his own.

He is a referee, a coach, a teacher, and an advisor. He is the example of manhood in worn-out tennis shoes, a sweatshirt two sizes too large, and a hat two sizes too small. He is a humanist in crisis, a doctor in an emergency, a song leader, an entertainer, a play director. He is an idol with his head in a cloud of wood smoke and his feet in the mud. He is a comforter in a leaky tent on a cold night and a pal who has just let someone borrow his last pair of dry socks. He teaches about the natural world standing knee-deep in poison ivy.

Counselors dislike reveille, waiting in line, cabin inspections, and rainy days. They are fond of sunbathing, exploring, teaching new games, and days off. They are handy for patching up broken friendships, bloody noses, and tornjeans. They are good at locating lost bathing suits, fixing ax handles, playing guitar, and catching fish. They are poor at crawling out on rainy mornings and at getting to bed early. A counselor is a dynamo on a day off, exhausted the next day, but recuperated in time for their next day off.

Who but a counselor can cure homesickness, air out wet bedding, play eight games of Capture the Flag in succession, whistle "Dixie" through his fingers, carry two packs, stand on his hands, and sing 37 verses of "You Can't Get to Heaven"?

A counselor is expected to repair ten years of damage to Tommy in ten days, make Johnny into a man, rehabilitate Paul, encourage Susie to be an individual, and help Nancy adjust to the group. He is expected to lead and teach the most prized possessions of 16 adults much older than he. He is expected to lead them in fun and adventure - even when his head aches; teach them to live in the outdoors - even though he spends nine months of the year in Atlanta, New York, Chicago or Los Angeles; teach indigenous activities - when he can't even spell it; insure safety and health - with a sunburned nose, a band-aid on his thumb, and a blister on his heel.

For all this, he is paid enough to buy his second text in psychology, some asprin, some new socks, and some new tennis shoes. You wonder how he can stand the place and the pressure. You wonder if he really knows how much he is worth, and somehow, you realize you can never pay him enough when, as he leaves in August, he waves good-bye and says, "See ya' next year!"