A First Time Counselor Reflects on Her Summer Camp Experience

Working at Camp Weequahic was an experience of a life time. Who would have known that being on the opposite side of the country from my family would have been so easy?

I left my house at 6am on a Saturday morning, got on a plane, and had no idea of what to expect. Of course, I knew the details – I was going to be a bunk counselor and part of the waterfront staff. However, I didn’t know who I was going to work with, what my kids would be like or even the age of the children that would be in my bunk. Even though the Weequahic staff helped get me organized and ready, I was very nervous when I boarded the bus from Laguardia Airport to Weequahic.

During orientation I became familiar with the people who I was going to be working with for the next 10 weeks. I never imagined that these people from all over the world would so quickly become my family and more – my 2nd family, my best friends, and my co-workers all in one.

Little did I know my life was very quickly going to get even better when the kids arrived!

During orientation, I couldn’t really imagine the camp with kids. Once my kids got to camp, though, I could no longer imagine Camp Weequahic without them. Bunk 25 – what a wonderful place this was to live this past summer! Working with my girls was the most impactful memory for me; I will never forget the experience of working with my very first campers.

My 8 and 9 year old girls helped me grow up very quickly; they helped me become more independent, more mature, and much more understanding of what parents go through on a day-to-day basis. Bunk 25 will always hold a special place in my heart.

Camp Weequahic isn’t an ordinary place to work. It’s a home, it’s a lifestyle, and it’s a place where you mean the world to so many kids. Camp Weequahic is more than a job, it’s a family.

Alley S.

Summer 2011 Staff

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