Screaming kids, sticky fingers, and water balloons, OH MY! This was my life; this was the life of a Summer Camp Staffer. Doesn’t sound all that glamorous does it? Well let me just tell you, it was the best experience of my life. I spent last summer working as a staffer for Centrikid Camps. It was the best summer of my life. I got to spend each and every day dancing and jumping around with kids while teaching them about important life lessons and about Jesus! This past summer I didn’t get much sleep, but I did learn a lot about myself and a lot about what I wanted to do when I “grow up.”
An average day in the life of a staffer started around 7AM and didn’t end until around midnight, then you would get up and do it all again. I would wake up, go to breakfast and have my “time alone with God,” we would then have “I Can’t Wait,” which was basically just a huge dance party at 8AM with 500-800 screaming kids and get them pumped for the day. After “I Can’t Wait” we would dismiss to bible study and recreation rotations which lasted 2 hours, I taught bible study, after that would have lunch with the kids. After lunch, the kids broke up into Track Times which were their choice of activity. I taught an all-girls track called “NO BOYS ALLOWED.” After Track Times we would have dinner then nightly worship then hang time and our nightly meeting then BED. Finally. Every second of my day was full of kids and laughter and fun. Exhaustion and adrenaline battled each other every day and The Holy Spirit overpowered them both and got me through each day. The relationships that I built with each group of kids that I taught was worth far more than the nap I wished I could have. At the end of the week when the campers and group leaders would pack up and go home, I would cry. It was so bittersweet. I knew that lives and hearts had been impacted and I would have the opportunity to do it all again the next cycle of camp, but the fact that I knew I will never see some of those sweet faces again broke my heart. But that doesn’t even touch the number of tears that rolled from the cheeks on the last day of camp. The friendships that I made last summer are some that will last me a life time! I met one of my best friends at camp and we still talk EVERYDAY. Camp is where I met my second family. Camp is where I rediscovered what it really means to have faith like a child. Camp is where I realized I wanted to major in education. Camp is where I laughed and cried and everything in-between. Camp is where I couldn’t be more excited to wear a bright yellow shirt on Fridays and get smacked in the face with shaving cream. Camp is where I could be me. Camp is where I found myself. So… WHAT ARE YOU WAITING ON, APPLY NOW!!