Summer Camp Made Me Who I Am

Camp Made Me

This might be a bit of a unique post, but this whole website exists to give a further insight into who I am. And my summers spent attending, and then working, at Camp Natoma play a huge role in who I am today.

Quick Background

Camp Natoma is a summer sleep-away camp in the hills outside of Paso Robles, CA. Opening up in the early 40s, my Grandmother attended. Eventually she had my Mom attend and my Grandma even worked there some of those summers. Sure enough my Mom encouraged me to attend, starting in the summer before 4th grade. I attended every summer growing up. I also worked as a counselor for 3 summers during my college years.

As I said, it is a sleep-away camp. You are there for a week long session, and you sleep outside. No tents. No cabins. Days are spent learning about nature, hikes, swimming, and camp fires.

Out Of My Shell

I was a shy kid. Maybe had some form of social anxiety but I was often stressed at school at a young age and weary of my surroundings. I was pretty introverted and almost frightened by interaction with others aside from my closest friends.

Going to summer camp, it was a clean slate. Every summer there I came more and more out of my shell. I was building new relationships with kids I would see every summer. Had I never gone, I have no idea how I would have turned out.

The same goes for when I started working as a counselor. With that new level of interaction with professional peers, I was able to figure out how to get myself comfortable in that kind of a setting. I feel that it set me up for success in adapting into future jobs/cultures.

Leadership

This summer camp has a fairly simple structure set up for when kids get to the couple high school years before turning 18. I completed the two years of the CIT (counselors in training) program. At 16 and 17 years old, this was helpful in learning how to lead activities and garner support for ideas from my peers. Since I was too shy to try and go for any leadership experience in school, I find those two years to be incredibly valuable.

Those in the CIT program essentially run many elements of the camp every day. We were the ones in charge at mealtimes, and would plan and execute the campfire activities for each night after dinner. Maybe that isn’t something wonderful to acknowledge, or grandiose in nature. But it was invaluable for me. What I learned from those experiences over the course of two full summers, I’ve kept with me ever since.

The summers of 2005, 2007, and 2008 were spent working as a counselor. Looking back that was a unique challenge to be responsible for 10+ kids, their schedules each day, and keeping them engaged when I was 19, 21, and 22 years old. Whether it was a group of kids aged 7-10, or the 11-15 crowd, there was always the challenge of not only keeping them engaged, but having them see me as a leader figure. These kids are away from their parents (or homes) for the week, and see summer camp as a freedom opportunity. Sometimes with the older ones, it can be hard to get that “buy-in” for the summer camp experience. Yet I figured it out, and that was rewarding.

Putting It All Together

I’m not sure if many people put their work at summer camps in their work history, but my experience is proudly on my LinkedIn. The whole overarching experience is something that I keep with me, and that I can still draw on when in need.

Summer camp brought me out of my shell, it made me someone who can lead and get others buy-in on my ideas. It’s also made me a better parent, which is the most important result of those experiences.

Has anyone else had summer camp experience? Would love to hear about it!

PS - Now my daughter attends Camp Natoma 💚