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By Camp America on 06/07/2016
For as long as I can remember, I had wanted to apply to Camp America, but I just never found the right time, and always ended up making excuses not to apply...
However, after I had finished uni, I bit the bullet and hit that little red “Apply” button, and I have never looked back. I got placed at a camp in Virginia for underprivileged children from DC and the surrounding area. As such, it’s not some super fancy camp with amazing facilities, but it had everything we needed and more than some of the children could ever ask for. I worked as a lifeguard, but still got to live in the cabin with the kids, so was still seen as a co-counsellor to the girls in my bunk, and it truly was the best of both worlds – I got to establish a relationship with some of the craziest kids I think I will ever meet, whilst also getting to spend my days at the pool.
I’m not going to pretend that camp is easy – it’s not – but it is the best and the worst job that I will EVER have, and I would take every single difficult second all over again, for the sake all of the most amazing ones. If I hadn’t applied to Camp America, then I wouldn’t have been able to work in the London office this season, and I wouldn’t have met some of the most amazing, crazy people in my life. I speak to the other Camp America staff nearly every day, and 10 months down the line, I still get excited when I get a FaceTime call all the way from DC.
Certain campers’ stories stay with me, and some of them even made me cry. The great thing about camp is that every single camper has their own unique story that you couldn’t even begin to imagine, but the best thing about every single one of my campers’ stories is that they all end by saying that Moss Hollow is their home, and wherever I end up, it will always be my home too.
Katy - Camp Moss Hollow (2015)
