How working at camp prepared me to be a mom.

I am entering into my tenth summer at camp and I have learned many different things from being on staff as a counselor, to summer admin, to being on full time staff. Each summer comes with new lessons and adventures. This past summer a new adventure started for me during second session, I became a mom!

Camp has taught me so many things and I always tell counselors I am interviewing, especially first time counselors who didn’t grow up coming to camp like me, that camp prepares you for many life lessons. Before becoming a mom I thought those lessons were solely for them in that stage of life but it prepares you for so much more. I can truly say camp over the years prepared me to be a mom.

Here are a few ways camp has prepared me to be a mom.

Being a camp counselor, one of the most important things we ask in our staff is to be flexible. Camp does runs on a schedule however you never know when that schedule has to change. Things don’t always go as planned so we have to be flexible in how we adapt and keep going. Every single day at camp there is something we have to switch around or change up, it can be as simple as a rainy day. Sometimes this is the first job or situation our staff are put in to have to be flexible so they are learning that here at camp. As the Program Director, I am always having to be flexible especially last summer adjusting things due to covid. Being a mom and always being flexible in the situation has helped me so much. Things don’t always go the way I foresee them and that’s okay.

From the moment you wake up at camp, as a camp counselor you are practicing patience. An example that comes to mind is meal time, especially with the younger campers. Each meal I sit and watch counselors year after year be patient as they clean up each spill or fix each plate for their campers. Another example would be in activities when there might be a camper on top of circus or a ropes element and they are terrified to come down, being patient is the key to getting that camper to succeed in jumping off the zip-line or swinging down from circus. I have learned every single day being a mom that being patient is the key to making each day smoother.

There is no way you can do the job as a camp counselor by yourself. Being humble and asking for help is the best way to get the job done. Working as part of a team is the only way to have a successful summer as a counselor. I’ve only been a mom for 6 months but I know that I cannot do all the things for Lola Kate by myself. I have been thankful to have lots of help in the new season of life!

I look forward to learn more things each summer and apply them to my life. I most certainly look forward to this summer and I know that my daughter will have some excellent counselors to look up to and lots of fun new friends around camp!