Guest post by David Scanlon, a first-year international counselor from Ireland in 2015, and a returning counselor for summer 2016 (!). 

Last year was my first year of college, and I wanted to take my summers to travel abroad. I also wanted, at some point in my college career, to pick up some experience of working with kids. So when I learned about CCUSA and its international counsellor program, I thought it was the perfect opportunity.

I had no idea what kind of camp would send me an offer, nor did I really know what kind of camp I wanted to go to. One camp sent me an offer, but I didn’t particularly want to work there when I looked into it, so I politely rejected them. Another camp sent me an offer, I took them up on it, but after an interview they politely rejected me. Then I received an offer from the Bar 717 Ranch, a small, relatively isolated camp in Northern California. It felt like the other side of the world to me. I had pictures of sandy beaches, rollerskates, and iced coffees in my head. Once I looked into it, I changed that view into mountains, rivers, and an outdoors lifestyle. It seemed like a fantastic place to spend the summer.

I’m quite comfortable in saying that for the first week I was at camp, I felt like the ultimate new kid in a strange new place. Words like “Vespers” were tossed around casually, people held hands quietly before eating, and there was this bizarre “CT Dubs” [more commonly known as the Camp Trinity Way] thing that everyone kept referencing like some kind of guideline. It was a totally different way of life and it took me a bit to get used to it. Thankfully that’s what the training is for!

Over those two weeks of training, I learned vital skills like Lifeguarding and Wilderness First Aid, I was shown how things were done at camp, and I got to know the people that would be my family for the summer. They were my confidants, my support, my reprieve when I needed it. They were people that I got impossibly close to, and I knew we always had each others backs. Getting to know the counsellors and the staff was one of the many great experiences of the summer. I can’t even express how much their support meant to me in those moments I needed it, whether it was boosting my confidence, keeping me going, or even just making me laugh in tough moments.

When I showed up at camp, I had no particular skills. I was enthusiastic, sure, but I wasn’t adept in archery or horsemanship or pottery or anything like that. So when the time came for program sign-ups, I just threw my name in what caught my eye (and what was within my abilities – me running the Ropes Course would have been a big mistake!). The first thing I found was that every program had its own great moments; whether it was a goat flipping down a hill in Small Animals, or blowing bubbles on a ridge while the sun sets with the Curiosity Shop.

Eventually my pilgrimage of activities brought me to the Craft Shop, and I found my home there. I loved the paints and the candles and the tiles and the jewellery. And I especially loved making the friendship bracelets. It’s my new addiction, I’m making one now as part of a Christmas present! I never even knew I would take to Arts and Crafts so much, but I guess it’s one of those things that you can only learn by doing, as the Camp Trinity Way says.

I spent the summer working with the younger boys, and I got to witness first-hand how camp changed them. I watched them become fine young men, who not only learned new skills like woodworking, but also became more conscientious, sensitive, and responsible. The independence we fostered in them while they were under our watch gave them room to develop themselves and mature, and the close, family-style way of living strengthened their character. These were kids who volunteered to clean up after themselves, who looked after each other if one of them was struggling, and who could hold a friendly conversation with any random person on camp. I was almost jealous of them at some points. I wasn’t that mature and pleasant at their age!

But the biggest change I believe camp brought about in them was their boosted confidence. I think that everything camp organises and does on a daily basis helps the kids realise their own abilities and qualities, and to believe in themselves. The fact that we give them opportunities rather than dictate them gives them the room to test themselves and branch out, and the whole camp is very supportive of every kid’s effort. It was great to see the kids who were timid and unsure in the beginning throw on a crazy costume and dance wildly, or opt to go on a challenging hike, or ask to do something unique and interesting in the Craft Shop. A lot of people talk about self-esteem being a major issue nowadays, particularly in childhood and adolescence. So it’s really great to see the kids leave camp with a new confidence in themselves and how awesome they are.

It’s funny, because I’d also say that that same confidence boost was my greatest change too. I was never a very confident person, I liked to call myself a “third-time able” kind of guy. That means that the first time I tried something new I’d mess it up, the second time I’d do it awkwardly but it would kind of work, and the third time I would do it properly. At the start of camp I had this same attitude. It made me hesitant to trust in my abilities and try unique or original things, and I always doubted myself before going into something new. But by the end of the summer, I had really grown past that. Between the fleet of jobs and activities we were doing as counsellors, the amazing support from the staff, and the constant reinforcement from my fellow counsellors, I started to believe in myself. I had no problem throwing myself into new things, and I was happier with my work and efforts in general. Even now after I’ve come back home, people have commented that I changed over the summer for the better, and that I’ve really grown into myself. I attribute all of that to the camp.

I had so many fantastic experiences at the camp, between the barbecue dances, the harvest festival booths, and just day-to-day living and chatting with the kids. I know, looking back on it, that there were one or two points that I found a bit difficult, or I had a tough time. But it’s genuinely surprising how overwhelmingly positive my summer experience.

I guess I can round off this piece (before it gets gushy) with some advice. The best thing you can do with regards to camp is to throw yourself into it. Whether you’re deciding whether to go, or what to do when you’re there, or if wearing a different dress to each dance is a bit much, just forget your inhibitions and go for it. I’ve learned, and you’ll find it too, that camp will be there for you to support you. They’re a community, a family, and they’ll bring out the best in you while giving you the best time too.