This past summer, our IENA Camp shirt was a short sleeved t-shirt with the following blurb written on the back of the shirt:
“Camp Staff: Overworked, underpaid camp superhero who is expected to be everything to everyone, including, but not limited to: doctor, lawyer, police officer, child psychologist, paid baby sitter with neither television nor refrigerator, referee, coach, teacher, advisor, bathroom monitor, role model, song leader, entertainer, and play director. Crazy enough to work with bugs, caring enough to work with children. They must simultaneously stand on a pedestal while at the same time play in the mud. They can cure homesickness, air out bed-wetting, create a Neverland, all while singing 37 versus of Blaaaack Socks on just four hours of sleep, and without whom summer camp would cease to exist…”
Each summer, thousands of camp staff pack their bags and travel to their summer camp to impact the lives of hundreds of thousands of children. They are the backbone of each camper’s experience. They are a whole industry of themselves with the power to inspire, direct, change and impact the lives of everyone around them.
I chuckle because this is true power….yet the rest of the world dismisses this as something that isn’t “a real job”.
It’s the most ‘real’ job you are ever going to have.
Be a Camp Staff. Impact lives.