Jude Maxwell
Camp America: A Reflection
My name is Jude Maxwell, and I’m about to enter my final undergraduate year studying Politics at the University of Glasgow. I recently returned from the United States, where I spent the summer working as a camp counsellor at Pine Forest Camp. This is a challenging opportunity that I had entertained the idea of taking on for a couple of years. The notion of living and working in a foreign country appealed to me as something I wanted to do while I was at university, even more so, as I was unable to take part in any study abroad programme as part of my degree.
I was able to do this through the Camp America programme, which helped me in several ways, most notably finding a camp that felt like the right fit for me and making the seemingly endless process of successfully applying for a J1 visa (“a non-immigrant visa for individuals approved to participate in exchange visitor programs in the United States”) seem possible. Camp America was also responsible for arranging proper travel and health insurance as well as booking my flights to and from the United States, a stress that I am glad I didn’t have to deal with.
I was hired as a Bunk Councillor, Swim Instructor and Lifeguard, which meant, alongside living in a cabin with my campers and co-councillors. I was trained and certified as a lifeguard by the American Red Cross and delivered instructional swimming lessons to the campers. Despite having no previous experience outside of recreational swimming and being a casual member of the university swim club, the week-long lifeguard training course was rigorous, although I wouldn’t consider it to be overly difficult, and I would recommend lifeguarding as a speciality to anyone.
I felt fortunate with the group of campers I was assigned to when I first arrived at camp. They were a genuinely kind group of children with whom I enjoyed spending my time and getting to know. Furthermore, I met and almost immediately became friends with the most amazing group of people, with whom I made many lasting memories in a relatively short period of time. It is my sincere hope that I stay connected with and continue to stay in contact with these friends, even if they live in different countries across the world.
Compared to my part-time job at home, where I work at a supermarket, being at camp didn’t really feel like work. This is not me saying that the experience always felt like a holiday, and that working at camp is easy. The days are very long, stretching from wake-up at 7:45 am until bedtime, which for my group of campers was about 10:30 pm. At some points during the summer, I felt drained both physically and mentally, counting down the minutes until my next day off when I would have time to take a step back from the environment and recharge.
Becoming accustomed to living in a bunk was definitely something that took time getting used to; having no alone time, especially in challenging days when feelings of homesickness set in, for example, having nine campers in the same room, needing attention and wanting to play games became a lot to deal with. Furthermore, the policy at camp was that phones should be stored in the assigned lockers and that they should only be used during off periods or days off. This again took some adjusting to get used to, not being able to keep in constant contact with my friends or call home to my parents every day, for example.
As a Politics student, the current political climate in the United States was something that I had to seriously consider when deciding where I wanted to go and what type of camp I wanted to apply to. I was hired at a Camp America fair taking place in Edinburgh shortly after the US Presidential Election, a topic I enjoyed discussing with the Camp Director during my brief interview. He informed me, as expected, that camp is a totally inclusive environment where politics isn’t considered. However, he advised that the area of Northwestern Pennsylvania where the camp is located is deeply conservative. A fact that was proven to me by the increasing number of ‘TRUMP 2024’ and ‘MAGA’ flags and banners displayed on the properties that we passed on the journey from the airport.
The opportunity to travel the United States after camp was very enticing to me. Managing to visit New York City, Boston, Philadelphia and Washington DC, in the two weeks following the end of my contract. The last of which was a personal highlight, where I was able to visit landmarks like the Capitol Building and the National Portrait Library. The chance to visit these locations that I have read about or seen on television was incredible and made me very excited to return to the final year of my studies.
If I were to offer advice to someone thinking of working at an American summer camp, I would immediately tell them to do it, but to consider why they want to do it and what they want to gain from it, as the experience is definitely not for everyone. Overall, I would confidently say that I enjoyed the best summer of my life so far, where I learned a great number of skills, ranging from how to solve a Rubik’s Cube and how to play poker all the way to how to administer CPR and operate a defibrillator. Reflecting on the experience, I feel that it has been very defining for me, instilling a greater sense of confidence, resilience and character.
