The Summer Camp Experience

• 

Summer vacation. As much as they might love being in the classroom, teachers look forward to it all year long. Any teacher who tells you they don’t is lying. It’s a chance to relax, travel, and get away from children.

Notice how I mentioned three main things there. Let’s go over them and see if I do any during my summer vacation.

Relax? Sure, but not nearly enough.

Travel? Again, I’d love to, but my bank account and COVID restrictions may have other ideas.

Get away from children? Nope.

That’s right–I’m a camp leader (or counselor, as some Americans might say)…and I’m proud of it.

If you look at my camping experience as a child, it doesn’t exactly scream “outdoorsy.” I went to one Boy Scout camp as a kid. I was eight years old. I ran into a wooden pole and injured my chest. Thank God my scout leader just so happened to be a doctor by day. Never again.

I couldn’t handle the camp environment as a kid with no responsibilities, so what possessed me to think I could handle it as a leader who would have responsibilities like, you know, other people’s children?

It started when I graduated from The Language House in July 2019. Since most permanent job possibilities did not start until September, I would be looking at some downtime with no income. One of the trainers at TLH is the lead recruiter for an agency that operates multiple summer camps in South Bohemia, a two-hour drive from Prague. She spoke to me about possibly being an English leader and I jumped at the chance. I saw it as a great opportunity to further step outside my comfort zone, experience nature, work with children, and make some money along the way.

The agency has multiple different types of camps. I have done two of them–English4You, the teaching camp at which the children have daily English lessons, and Eurocamp–the sports and games camp where English is the primary language and there are daily competitions as part of an all-camp game. At both camps, each English leader is paired with a Czech leader, and the two leaders oversee a group of approximately 20 children. English4You is seven days, while the latter is 10. Each camp normally has five to six consecutive terms throughout the summer.

• 

My very first camp was English4You in 2019. It was an out-of-body experience that took some getting used to. I definitely made some mistakes along the way. My students were aged 14 to 16 and most were relatively eager to learn. I would say I had one of the stronger and more engaged groups at the camp. Overall, I’d call it a success.

Immediately following English4You came my first Eurocamp. Perhaps the driving rainstorm we had on the first day of this camp should have been an indicator of things to come. Not only did I not know what I was doing, I had a group of kids that just didn’t want to be there. They weren’t disrespectful or mean, they just felt that they had better things to do. They weren’t buying what I was selling. We finished tied for last in the all-camp competition. And no, we did not get the reward of the #1 draft pick for next season.

• 

In spite of my not-so-great experience and the newfound world of COVID restrictions, I came back to both camps in 2020. The pandemic changed a lot–groups could no longer mix, a lot of games and events had to be cancelled or modified, we had to bring our own bed linens, etc. There were definitely challenges. But both of my camps in 2020 were unforgettable experiences. I had an awesome group at English4You–they took it seriously, came up with terrific projects, and were fun to talk to. One of my campers from that group has actually become a close friend to me and she trusts me to talk about anything. She’s told me that she wishes I could be her parent.

Eurocamp in 2020 started off on a very different foot. I’m not going to sit here and bore you with the story, but I wound up with Group 1, aka the youngest group of kids. Basically, there was an opening there and no one else wanted it, so I took one for the team and volunteered (otherwise, we would have drawn names out of a hat, so I still probably would have gotten this group anyway). Besides, I thought it would be a fun new challenge to have. And that it was. We had six native speakers in the group (their parents came from or had connections to English-speaking countries), but the remaining children spoke very little English. We did not fare well in the all-camp competition (Group 1 usually doesn’t), but I enjoyed the experience. Of course, we had to deal with things like homesickness and constant complaints like “I’m hungry” and “I have to pee,” but I think I came away a more patient and empathetic person because of it.

What I will remember most about Eurocamp in 2020, however, is the bonds I formed with my fellow leaders. I like to think that I’m a person who can get along with just about anyone. But this group of leaders was different. During those 10 days, I met many of my very best friends. It opened the door to shared experiences I never thought I’d have out here. I’m also proud to say that I formed close relationships with both the Americans and the Czechs. I think my selfless act of taking Group 1 was the first thing that showed those guys that I might be a decent person. This leader group also accepted me despite my abstinence to alcohol, smoking, and drugs. With all due respect to the other leader groups I’ve worked with, if had not been for some of the people I met at this Eurocamp, I might very well be somewhere else right now.

My Eurocamp experience in 2020 was so much fun that I just couldn’t wait to get back for 2021. So much, in fact, that I accepted a leader position on the very first term of the summer. You could say that was a risk on my part because there would naturally be some trial-and-error involved. The COVID restrictions changed mid-camp, and yes, I actually had to get the very first COVID test of my life. Like most of the other camps I’ve done, there were clear and present challenges.

But thankfully, my kids were not one of them. I was blessed to have an amazing group of teenagers. They wanted to be there and had a great experience. They took the all-camp competition very seriously and won the whole thing! In the spirit of Saratoga starting later this week, we went wire-to-wire. It was my third time at Eurocamp and first time experiencing the reward of ice cream on the last night (the top 3 groups in the all-camp game get the honors). And after reading through all the notes and Instagram posts, there was no need to ask if I had made an impact on them. I truly had some unforgettable young men and women in this group and I enjoyed every second I had with them. When it was announced they had won, I beamed like a proud papa because I saw all the work they had put in. And we pulled this off despite having 28 adolescents in our group, so it was by far the largest group I’ve ever had!

The other big thing I’ll remember about this camp is the diversity of the leader group. The agency opened its doors to more non-native speakers this year. As a result, only two of the seven English leaders were Americans. We had leaders from Singapore, Poland, Ghana, Italy, and South Africa. As always, we had the Czech leaders as well. As I’ve said many times in this space before, there are few things better than getting to experience new cultures. I almost felt like this camp, even though I had seen the surroundings before, was a completely new culture for me. Believe me, having the ability to work as part of a multinational team will never not be an important skill to put on your CV or to hammer home when applying for jobs. Sure, working with the Czech leaders has always been fun (I’ve never had a Czech co-leader who I haven’t gotten along great with), and in the past, I’ve encountered the Brits and the Australians and the Canadians. Great people. But I was truly fortunate to have had the chance to meet so many people from places I really wasn’t familiar with. The more you know, the better world citizen you are.

Yes, camp does have its drawbacks. The food is not that of a Michelin-quality restaurant, to say the least. There are bugs. There is a rafting trip, which I actually abstained from this year due to my fear of water and drowning. The nights can sometimes be very long, as we can only have our nightly staff meeting after all the campers have gone to bed at 10 p.m. At Eurocamp, each leader is required to have night watch duty a few times over the course of the camp. Sometimes, this can involve a shift from 3 a.m. to 4:30 a.m. Not fun!

But you know what? These “negatives”are so minor and nothing we can’t handle. In addition to having an open mind, camp has taught me to be patient and to not take life so seriously. It’s given me invaluable communication skills and has shown me how to be more flexible and adaptable. Most importantly, the environment is dynamic and the campers and leaders are FUN. That’s why I keep coming back. So what if I have to have porridge (or oatmeal for you Americans out there) for dinner?

• 

My camp career is not over. I do have another term at English4You coming up in a few weeks. But because my Eurocamp experience was so wonderful, I just couldn’t wait to share it with you all. I think the next camp, being a teaching camp, will be good experience for my new job. The past two years when I’ve done camp, I’ve had to do the adults-to-children-back to adults cycle, sometimes more than once. But now that I’ve left my job teaching adults and am taking the rest of the summer off, I can stay going down the same path.

And hopefully impact some more young lives along the way.