Essay On Camp Counselor Experience

When I was a Camp counselor at Camp Mendocino, the most important part of my job was to make sure my campers were safe, comfortable, and were enjoying their camp experience. My responsibilities were facilitating and helping organize activities for the campers. I also gained valuable experience with conflict mediation, and problem solving. I was trained to know what to do in emergency situations, and social situations such as bullying. One of the most important lessons I learned from the experience is when to be a friend, and when to be professional. I believe this experience relates to the resident assistant role because it does consist of similar responsibilities. Both jobs require the individual to provide comfort and supervision. Not only do the two resemble similar rules, that one must enforce and abide by, to be an RA or camp counselor you must be able to put yourself in your supervisees’ shoes. As a second year student I definitely have had my fair share of stress and hard times from the transition from high school to independence. Just like a camp counselor I would be able to give comfort to homesick students and tell them things do get easier. I also have experience with running events and activities that are both safe and fun, and I can stay calm and act fast in an urgent situation.

As a camp counselor another job I had was to convince really homesick campers to stay.

College is in many ways similar to camp. The transition away from home, whether you come from another quiet small town or a major city can be extremely difficult. Sometimes the emotional stress of being homesick is a lot to bare. Something I would tell those students is, “ it takes courage to come here, and if you give this place a chance, not only will you find rare opportunities, you may find

yourself.”

All of my past employment experiences relate to the ra job as well because they have all required training, collaboration, and teamwork. It takes an entire team of people to work together, in order for these businesses to run smoothly, especially during rush hours. These jobs require patience, customer service, and doing the best you can to make the customer happy while remaining professional. An example would be one of my most recent jobs as a barista at a, Starbucks coffeehouse. As a barista my job was to give excellent customer service, work in a high stress-fast pace environment, and give trainees a hand. From this experience I have learned efficient multitasking and time management skill, I have also learned how to resolve conflicts with customers, by hearing them out and trying to fix the problem. As an ra, I would do my best to help out my residents. The jobs are similar because I would be mediating any conflicts for the residents, and I would have to balance my time well, because I know that, although it is a very rewarding job, it is also very time consuming, and efficiency is key.