College students may believe that camp is in the past now, but returning to summer camp as a counselor or in other working roles is a common summer job for college students. Brianna Bolling, a freshman majoring in aerospace engineering and Spanish, said this kind of work is extremely valuable for UA students.
“It teaches you how to work with kids and their families. Each kid has different issues, and each parent has different concerns,” Bolling said. “It teaches problem solving, self-evaluation and resourcefulness.”
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Bolling attended Girl Scout camp as both a camper and as a counselor-in-training until three years ago when her camp, Camp Coleman, closed. She said she learned a lot working at camp, with some of her favorite memories coming from the young girls she taught.
“During meal times at Girl Scout camp a lot of singing happens before, during and after each meal. There were all sorts of camp songs that we learned as campers and later taught to our campers as well. The girls loved that, and it was so much fun for us all to come together,” Bolling said.
Another former camper, Blake Niedenthal, a freshman majoring in education, said he is also enthralled by camp and all of its possibilities and learning opportunities.
“For me, some of the best experiences working at [camp] were the growth I got out of it,” Niedenthal said. “Being in charge of 10 to 12 eleven-year-olds is tough work, you learn to deal with issues on the fly, which is something you can’t learn at an internship.”
One of the most influential experiences Niedenthal said he had at Camp Manitou was the time he won College League as a counselor-in-training. College League is a competition between four teams in which they all work to score points in sports, track and swim meets and performances including skits, songs and plays.
“[Winning] is one of the greatest feelings ever, and winning as a counselor-in-training makes it that much greater. It may sound dumb to some people, but as I say, ‘It’s a Manitou thing, and you wouldn’t understand,’” Niedenthal said.
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Niedenthal has plans to continue working at Camp Manitou this summer and perhaps for summers after as well.
“I intend to work at Manitou for as long as I am able to, or until I hit the ‘real world,’” Niedenthal said. “This place is so special and means so much to me. It’s where I’ve met my best friends and had some of the greatest memories of my life, and I’m not ready to say goodbye to it quite yet.”
Matt Lowe, a freshman majoring in mechanical engineering, attended Boy Scout camp beginning in 2006 until he was 14. Shortly thereafter, he took up a job at the Nashville Boy Scout shop, selling snacks and souvenirs to campers and parents alike. However, his greatest memories didn’t come from selling Reese’s cups.
“My favorite experiences were those where I was able to help,” Lowe said. “For example, one time a camper came into the shop with blood running down his leg. Through my lessons in the Scouts I was able to clean his wound and properly bandage it with the first aid kit we had at the shop.”
Lowe said he feels working at a summer camp was one of the formative experiences of his life, an important stepping stone on his way to where he is now.
“I would fully encourage anyone interested to try working at a summer camp once,” Lowe said. “True happiness comes from a child’s smile. Through my time at camp I learned to fend for myself. I was free from my parents at 16, and I learned to get over homesickness early in my life. I was responsible for laundry and food and my job just like a college student.”
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