The Camp Counselor vs. the Intern

When I got started in this industry some ten-years ago I was handed an article entitled “You you can afford a job at summer camp”.  In it was was a very pointed discussion of all the benefits of this work; the responsibility, the time management, the human resources, the problem solving.  All sorts of amazing skills that any employer would love for someone to have.

This morning I was checking out the #CampPros group on Facebook and read an article by Dan Fleshler called “The Camp Counselor vs. the Intern”

But the clinching argument came from my daughter’s impassioned defense of camp counselors, and her outrage that someone glancing at résumés would believe that a 20-year-old who fetches coffee at Google is more impressive than one who spends days and nights nurturing, teaching, organizing, comforting and inspiring.

“What I do there matters,” she insisted.

It seems like more and more young people are looking for the mythical Internship-advantage.  Two months at a summer camp, however, provides people with a wealth of experience far beyond being a Coffee-gopher (however, if you are swinging by a Timmies, I’ll take a small black, with two sugars please).