In just a few short days, campers will arrive at each of America’s Finest Summer Camps in droves.  But summer camp campuses all over the country have already been populated by someone else for the past several days: staff.  Working with children 24/7 requires more preparation than simply showing up ready to work and being given a brief tour of the “office.”  When your “office” is a summer camp campus, there is quite a lot of preparation to do before the campers arrive.  That’s why summer camp staff participate in orientation sessions that last for a full week.  During this time, staff are trained in everything from inclusive techniques and ice breakers to emergency procedures.

Some of the staff members, like many of their campers will later this week, stepped off of a bus and into summer camp for the first time.  They were nervous, as is expected of everyone showing up for their first day on the job.  Having carefully been selected by year round camp staff over the course of the past year, many of them are working toward degrees that will lead to careers working with children and have some idea of what to expect…but not completely.  Over the past several days they’ve learnt a lot about camp, a lot about themselves, a lot about each other, and a lot about the campers they will meet in a few days.

If you ask any of them, they’ll tell you it has been an intense few days, but beneficial ones.  They’ll tell you that not all of it has been fun, but a lot of it has.  They’ll tell you that they’ve already made some new friends they know they’ll have for life.  But, perhaps most telling about the type of people who choose to embark on an adventure as seemingly crazy as working round the clock for seven straight days in an unfamiliar place for two straight months, is that they’ll tell you that they can’t wait to meet their campers!