Camp Confessions

Anonymous asked: Hi! I'm set to leave for a private residential camp in PA in 5 weeks. I'm a first time councillor with limited experience. I will be making my trek all the way from Melbourne, Australia. Do you have any hints or tips on how to make friends with councillors who have established and solid friendships with one another?

Speaking from my own experience I think one of the best things is to be open. Open to trying new things, having a different sort of energy, and especially a willingness to observe. My first year on staff I really watched my experienced colleagues and it helped me as a counselor but it also helped me get to know them as people. Because of the way camp is structured, I honestly believe that people will decide relationships based on both personality and work performance. If you pull your own weight during the staff time you’re more likely to be respected by the more experienced staff. Try to avoid being the person you think they would want to hang out with. For example, you are a person and you want to be a part of their group, not create some other personality that you think might fit in better (aka be yourself instead of trying to hard). Be open to doing things when you get invited at the same time, don’t go if you feel completely uncomfortable. 

Ultimately if this is a good staff they will try to include new members. However, I cannot stress enough how important it is to do your job well because you will be around these people A LOT and you will (presumably) share responsibility for children or tasks with them and they won’t appreciate slacking off.