Why I Want To Be A Counselor

I have been shaped by many experiences and accomplishments throughout my life, but one in particular has done the most to define who I am today. When I was thirteen, I spent four weeks at an overnight camp in western Massachusetts. It was the second overnight camp I had gone to, and the only camp where I found a supportive community which fostered my social growth. The friends that I made and counselors I had at this camp encouraged me to take risks in several ways, and my love for the camp led to my becoming a counselor five years after my first summer, which helped me decide that I wanted to teach. When I began attending this camp, I had just finished seventh grade and was incredibly shy. At school I had kept most of the same friends I had from elementary school, and I hadn’t made many new friends at the first overnight camp I had gone to. I was nervous that this summer would be the same, especially when I first arrived and my counselor told me that there were no other new campers in the bunk that summer. However, my new bunkmates immediately surprised me with their eagerness to show me around camp, learn all about me, and invite me into their social circle. I stayed up until dawn my first night, whispering to and giggling with two girls I had met
I had never considered myself an athletic person, but I was encouraged by my counselors and new friends to participate in volleyball, rock climbing, and archery. I eventually joined a volleyball team, and competed against another camp. I also was part of an a capella group with some of the older campers, and realized how much I love singing and harmonizing with others. Although I don’t still regularly participate in every activity that I tried at this camp, the experience of trying so many new activities in such a short amount of time has made me more adventurous and less risk