This article has been taking another round through social media. And it seems to be shared this time to more or less validate the decisions of my friends and their parents to spend another summer at camp."What I do there matters," she insisted. In several conversations, she told us about helping a camper cope with her mother's debilitating depression and comforting others whose parents were fighting or separating, about aiding 11 - and 12 -year-olds who were coming to terms with their sexuality, battling anorexia, confronting body fear. She talked about the many hours devoted to water-skiing lessons, about instilling the confidence needed by awkward, gawky, painfully self conscious 8- and 9-year-olds to stay prone in the water, hold on to the rope, then rise up and stay on their feet as the boat pulled away. "What's more important than that?" she asked."
My last summer on staff at camp in Key West
Following college graduation, I spent one last summer working at camp. I had been convinced by one of my best friends, and I knew that this would be the last time for an experience like this. I did learn a lot that summed. I continued to foster great friendships and started some new ones. I got one last summer before entering the real world. And at that time, I was still looking for validation of my call to youth and family ministry.
Yet, I wonder, can camp be a place that also teaches young people the skills that we believe are traditionally learned through an internship. And can both serve as places for self-growth, networking and relationship building, and conversations surrounding vocation?
I see some of this already happening. And I hope to continue to be part of those conversations, because whether camp, internship or a summer working retail, we want these experiences to be experiences of growth, challenge and exploration.
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