As kids now spend more time with entertainment media, they’re getting less and less time outdoors, despite the mental and physical health benefits. Ben Klasky, CEO of IslandWood, a 255-acre outdoor learning center, proposes a free and natural remedy to the physical problems kids face: the Great Outdoors. Ben grew up in Minnesota where he spent lots of time outdoors. He serves as President and CEO of IslandWood, a nonprofit organization that helps tens of thousands of kids get out into nature. IslandWood’s 255-acre headquarters is based on Bainbridge Island, WA, and features some of the most environmentally sustainable buildings in the world. The organization targets low-income, at-risk youth, and introduces them to roar of tree frogs, soaring bald eagles, and star-filled skies, helping them to discover natural connections with the outdoors. He is the co-founder of Camp Galileo, which has grown into the largest set of day camps in the Bay Area; and he co-founded Board Fellows while earning his MBA and Masters in Education from Stanford. Board Fellows places business school students on nonprofit boards, and the model has been replicated at over 75 other business schools. Ben teaches a graduate class on Social Entrepreneurship at the University of Washington’s Evans School of Public Affairs and a graduate class on Nonprofit Management. This talk was given November 9, 2013 in Seattle at TEDxRainier, a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED Conferences.

In this touching talk, Jonathan Owen shares an “a-ha” moment he had as a youth camp counselor, and how that insight has affected how he and his staff view the kids they work with years later. Jonathan Owen has worked with children for over fifteen years and has a powerful desire to learn and share their stories. A graduate of Southeastern Bible College, Jonathan is a children’s and youth minister at Shades Mountain Independent Church in Birmingham, Alabama. He also serves as the director at Camp Straight Street, a nine-week summer day camp for over 800 kids. The camp was voted “Best Day Camp” by the readers of Birmingham Magazine in 2014. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx

This talk was presented at an official TED conference, and was featured by our editors on the home page.ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Rita F. Pierson · Educator

Rita F. Pierson spent her entire life in or around the classroom, having followed both her parents and grandparents into a career as an educator.

We believe that internships and yes, even summer jobs, should provide meaningful experiences and accelerate you towards your career. Regardless of what your major is and regardless of what your long term goals are, every career-driven girl should spend at least one summer working for a camp.

[Related: The Best Companies to Land a Part-Time Job This Summer]

With a variety of types of positions available at different camps across the nation, you can be sure to find a job that suits your fancy. Job functions at different camps can include the following:

• Activity Staff
• Business
• Counselor
• Food services
• Grounds and Landscape
• Health
• Programming
• Support Staff
• Waterfront

There are so many benefits to working at a camp, so we’ve gathered 13 reasons why you should work at a camp for a summer:

1. You get to be a role model.

For however long you have the opportunity to interact with the campers, you quickly become one of the coolest (and most influential) people in their lives. Camp counselors especially have the opportunity to impact campers because of the amount of time spent with their kids. True bonds can form when you least expect them to: at the high dive at the pool, at the top of the zip line, tubing on the lake, or in the cabin late at night when homesickness sets in.

[Related: What You Can Take Away From Your Summer Job]

2. You get to unplug. 

Among the woods and lakes, you might not find much Wi-Fi, but you’ll find plenty of nature just begging you to unplug and enjoy. Surrounding yourself with the
beauty of the great outdoors only helps with this. 

3. Crafts to the max.

Never tie-dyed a shirt before? No problem. Camp is a great time to learn (or perfect) tie-dying skills, tie thousands of tiny knots until your wrists are loaded with friendship bracelets, and make too many dream catchers. 

4. Boost your resume.

Through the experiences you have working for a camp, you will be able to proudly put on your resume that you not only survived a summer working for a camp but thrived in the environment as well. Here you can find 10 Reasons Why Businesses Should Hire Former Camp Counselors. What made the list? Former camp counselors are great communicators, life-long learners, leaders, team players, and creative thinkers, just to name a few.

5. You truly make a difference.

There are so many benefits to working at a camp, including making a difference. Check out The Camp Counselor vs. the Intern from a New York Times blog, here. 

“What I do there matters,” she insisted. In several conversations, she told us about helping a camper cope with her mother’s debilitating depression and comforting others whose parents were fighting or separating, about aiding 11- and 12-year-olds who were coming to terms with their sexuality, battling anorexia, confronting body fear. She talked about the many hours devoted to water-skiing lessons, about instilling the confidence needed by awkward, gawky, painfully self-conscious 8- and 9-year-olds to stay prone in the water, hold on to the rope, then rise up and stay on their feet as the boat pulled away. “What’s more important than that?” she asked.

I had no answer, because I couldn’t come up with anything more important.

[Related: 5 Life Lessons Going to Summer Camp Taught Me]

6. Rock those chacos.

You get to rock the colorful chacos all summer, ending the summer with an awesome (terrible?) tan line.

7. Life-long friendships.

Within just a few days of arriving at camp for the beginning of the summer training sessions, you will meet some awesome people. Just think, your co-workers are some of the best, simply by them being there: they gave up their summer (just like you) to learn, grow, and impact others’ lives as well. Life-long friendships are bound to develop as you live and work alongside other college kids for three solid months.

8. Interview material.

After spending a summer at camp, you will surely find out some strengths and weaknesses for you to talk about in an interview, not to mention the crazy stories you can share

9. Peer networking.

Not all of your co-workers will be elementary education majors. In fact, you will meet a plethora of majors who have done the same thing you have: sought out a beyond-the-typical summer job. An awesome time to expand your peer networking to individuals from all over the country and from all walks of life.

10. Fresh air.

Believe it or not, the great outdoors can give you a sense of relaxation and recharge. Finding time to enjoy a more leisurely life by embracing the early sunrise and sitting up late under a sky full of stars can do more for you than you might have ever imagined. A little dirt never hurt anyone, right? 

11. You get paid to be crazy.

Now, our definitions of crazy may be different, but as a staff member for a camp, you get to participate in Wacky Wednesday, dress up crazy for skits, be the leader in the daily dance party, and genuinely show your campers how to have a good time.

12. You hone your leadership skills. 

There are plenty of opportunities to improve your leadership skills by working for a camp because, at one point or another, you will be asked to lead. Whether you are leading other staff members or a handful of campers, you will be looked up to for direction and wisdom.

13. You will learn so much about yourself.

As awesome as camp life is, it also is challenging. You may not know how to deal with a situation with a camper, your co-counselor for the week might not be the most compatible with your sense of humor, and some days might seem like they drag on forever—is it lights out yet?! However, it is moments like these where your true colors shine. You will learn so much about yourself and, at the end of the summer, will be able to look back and be proud of all that you made it through.

Ready to work hard, make a difference, build your resume, get paid, and have the best summer of your life? Apply to work for a camp for a summer—you won’t regret it.

To get you started on your search, look to the American Camp Association for position openings.

For more about my camp experiences, please check out my blog, here.

This article was originally published on The Lala.

When I speak with friends who work in other industries, I always tell them that if you have an applicant who has been a camp counselor and has a positive reference from that camp, they should move to the top of that pile of applications that are overflowing on their desk. A camp counselor is one of the hardest jobs out there. It is not all fun and games. Here is my list of the top 10 qualities you get when you hire someone who has been a camp counselor.

1. A good communicator: Camp counselors have to be able to communicate well with children, parents, coworkers, and superiors. This is different from any other job because parents leave the most valuable thing in their lives with us, their child. At our camp they have about 10 minutes to speak to the counselors and feel confident in them before they leave their perfect child with them for two weeks. That 10-minute conversation is one that will have a lasting impact on that parent. THEY WILL CLING TO EVERY WORD! If a child is sick or homesick, that same counselor is the one to call the parent to update them on the situation and ensure them that their baby is safe and being well cared for.
2. A life-long learner: When someone works in a camp setting, they learn that to be successful in camp and in life they have to realize they have a lot to learn not only about camp and their campers but also about themselves. Once they make that transition they are able to approach every situation in life with an “I want to learn more” attitude.
3. A self-starter: Most camps have between 25-150 cabin counselors. While they are given very good supervision, no one is holding their hand every step of the way. They very quickly learn that as far as their campers are concerned, THEY are the “go-to” person. If one of their children forgets a toothbrush it is their responsibility to get them one from the infirmary.
4. A resilient individual: Camp counselors can handle anything. Just ask the counselor who has been helping a camper overcome homesickness while teaching their activity in the rain for 4 days straight, only to learn that there is a child in their cabin with lice. When they hear this, instead of curling up in a ball and hiding (the way any normal person would), they grab their gloves, strip all the beds in the cabin, get all of the laundry to the cleaners, and get all the campers lined up outside to check each one for nits. I repeat, camp counselors can, and do, handle anything!
5. A problem solver: At camp we try to keep things very scheduled and organized, but at the drop of a hat, plans can change. Imagine walking out of the dining hall with 250 campers and staff to play sock war (like capture the flag but you get to throw socks at each other!) when you hear a loud burst of thunder and have to come up with a new plan in an instant.
6. A creative thinker: When you need a new plan immediately, leave it to a camp counselor to come up with the most brilliant and fun game that anyone has ever heard of. If you think a boardroom of 10 lawyers is intimidating try standing in front of 200 children who are expecting to have the most fun they have ever had and your plan that you have been working on all week just got rained out.
7. A detail-oriented worker: Remember, camp counselors are responsible for THE most important thing in a parent’s life. Each and every detail is unbelievably important! Did a child have enough to eat at breakfast, drink enough water, make a new friend, skin their knee, play soccer, miss their mom, have wet shoes, lose their sweatshirt . . . ? Now multiply this by a whole cabin of campers!
8. A leader: It does not matter if you consider yourself a leader or not, the moment children arrive on property their counselor is their leader and their biggest role model. They watch their counselor’s every move. It is amazing how quickly camp counselors learn how to take on this role and own it. The way these children talk about their counselors when they leave is a testament to what great leaders they are.
9. A team player: Camp counselors are some of the best team players you will ever meet. They have learned that they cannot do it all on their own and that the best product is produced when you have a team working on it. In a camp setting, you need all different personality types to be able to meet each and every child where they are. To come up with the most fun game, camp counselors know it won’t come from one person but an army of people working toward the same goal. Most people come into this job thinking they can do it all, but it does not take long for them to realize that this job is physically impossible alone.
10. A solid work ethic: It is very difficult to explain to someone who has never been a camp counselor how hard this job really is. These college students work 24 hours a day for 3 months with very little time off and they do all the things mentioned in 1–9 with a smile on their face.

Employers who themselves have been camp counselors understand the qualities required to successfully do this job and, consequently, often seek these individuals out when filling positions. But now the secret is getting out and having “Summer Camp Counselor” on a resume can make a potential employee much more desirable!

Anne Archer  Yetsko is the associate director of Camp Merri-Mac in Black Mountain, North Carolina. She has worked for Merri-Mac for 12 years and is also a recent graduate of Touro University’s Camp Administration and Leadership master’s program. This blog was originally posted on the Merri-Mac blog.

Photo courtesy of Cheley Colorado Camps, Estes Park, Colorado

– See more at: http://www.acacamps.org/news-publications/blogs/counselors-corner/10-reasons-why-businesses-should-hire-former-camp-counselors#sthash.btDgD7Es.dpuf