Working at summer camp is an exhilarating experience. From the immersive setting to the amazing people, working at Camp Firwood proves unlike any job you'll likely have.
To some, spending a summer at camp –– washing dishes, cleaning bathrooms, and caring for campers –– sounds uncomfortable. For others, it's a haven. Some return to Firwood, summer after summer, chasing the exhilaration of their previous camp experience.
People choose to work at Camp Firwood for many reasons, and depending on your personality, working at camp may be enticing for different motives. So of all the reasons to work at Camp Firwood, why should you?
1. Personal and Spiritual Growth
Personal and spiritual growth proves an essential motive in choosing to work at Camp Firwood. Taking the step outside of your comfort zone –– living in rural cabins, engaging in a new community full of new people, taking on the daily challenges of camp life –– provides the space to develop character.
Camp Firwood's structure also promotes the spiritual wellness and growth of its summer staff. You'll partake in daily rituals, engaging Scripture and worshiping with your peers daily.
Simply living at camp detached from the world –– phones, school, etcetera –– provides spiritual refreshment. In this undistracted environment, your relationship with God becomes the top priority. Your life at camp will be straightforward in a way that allows for growth in simple, yet substantial ways.
2. Friends and Community
Camp Firwood hosts a pool of diverse employees each summer. People of all different walks. Some similar to you, others vastly different. In such a community, you will be welcomed and nurtured, as though brought into one, big family for the summer.
Fellowship is a popular reason for many who choose to return to Camp Firwood. The quality friends, strengthening mentorship, overwhelming sense of community –– all of these attributes create a homely environment.
If you relate to the difficulties of finding new friends or community, then Camp Firwood will be deeply refreshing. While Firwood isn’t a permanent solution to the feeling of communal desolation that many experience, it inspires a fervidity to explore different spiritual communities after returning home from the summer.
That said, some camp relationships pervade through decades, developing into life-long friendships. It happens more often than you might think!
3. Work Ethic development
Of all the words that could describe working at Camp Firwood, easy is not one of them. While working at camp isn't the most physically and mentally taxing job out there, the bounds of your work ethic will be tested throughout the summer.
In all staff positions at Camp Firwood, you'll hit a point of mental and physical exhaustion that requires perseverance. Broken toilets. Vomiting campers. Piles and piles of dishes.
Camp work is hard work. But fear not! Through the support of the Firwood community, you'll manage to push on into smooth waters. The challenge and taxation remain balanced by the gratification and excitement of camp. In the end, you'll have a great sense of your strengths and weaknesses –– the bar of what you can do, in your own eyes, raised to a greater standard.
4. Experience and Adventure
If you consider yourself a fanatic of new and exciting experiences, then Camp Firwood may quench your adventurous thirst. In any staff position, you will be exposed to a regular dosage of thrill and excitement.
Water Olympics. Island retreats. Sailing expeditions. Your shoes carry you off to the next escapade before you can blink twice. And that's just the fun of summer camp living!
Running a camp requires an improvisation mindset, hence why adventure-seekers thrive at Firwood. You won't always know what's around the corner, but you better believe it'll be both fun and challenging.
5. Learning and Trying New things
Have you ever shot a bullseye? Climbed a rock wall? Been a lifeguard or spent a night in the woods with nothing but a tarp and sleeping bag?
Camp Firwood serves people the chance to try and learn new things during their time on summer staff. Some learn how to lead Bible studies for the first time. Others learn how to start fires and make campfire dinners.
Some of the skills you learn will be applicable throughout your daily life. No matter your background, Camp Firwood always teaches you something new. For some, that's an offer difficult to refuse.
6. Résumé Enhancement
Camp Firwood is even great for building your résumé! While most don't think of summer camp as a résumé-booster, non-traditional work experience, like camp, is a remarkable way to enhance your hire-ability.
Problem-solving, leadership development, teamwork and collaboration –– Camp Firwood enhances your appeal to potential employers in numerous ways.
If you'd like a deeper commentary on how Camp Firwood serves as a résumé–enhancer, read this article on four major ways summer camp can boost your employability.
Final Thoughts: Working at Camp Firwood in 2024
Spending a summer at Camp Firwood provides an unforgettable experience. Understanding the 'why' of choosing to work at camp is important, and for most, its smorgasbord of all the reasons listed above.
If you're on the fence about working at camp, then we hope this list helped in making your decision. When you're ready, follow this link to apply for a job at Camp Firwood!
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