Staff personalities

[rockinsmiles]

Being at camp we run into a range of different people from a range of different backgrounds with a range of different opinions and personalities. I know we have to "deal" with some pretty interesting campers and sometimes there parents. However, im wondering has anyone had a co-counselor or staff who have been in the same cabin who had completely different personalities? How did or didn't it work? What kind of things were learned? Any suggestions?

[Indigo]

There have been some staff members I haven't gotten along with, but I haven't had to live with many... But I think one of the amazing things about camp is all the staff members from different backgrounds who you can meet. I've made great friends out of people I'd never think about hanging out with outside of camp, with barely any similar interests, etc. (Not sure that really answered your question, just something I've been thinking about a lot lately!)

[ocean]

I did and it was hard, but everytime she did something I didnt like, I asked her to stop, and she usually did because she respected me. If she didnt stop annoying me or whatever it was that she was doing, I just did the thing that annoyed her and she got the hint. Or I just ignored her.

[Kerrbear]

Oh boy, did we EVER have a few staffers this year that drove me crazy, just because we were so completely different! However, I think part of the reason why we didn't get along was the way they would treat the kids, or if they were just absolutely CLUELESS. For example, there was this one girl who was new on staff this year, and she just wasn't exactly all there. She developped a crush on another girl at camp who has very short hair and is a tomboy, and was CONVINCED that she was a guy! Some of the old staff heard her call her friend from home or her mom or someone like that and was like "I'm in love with a boy who wears a girl's bathing suit!!!" Oh man, that provided laughs for the rest of camp! However, she was a nice girl... just not exactly all there!!!

[who_stole_my_loofa]

This summer my cabin had 3 extremes for the counselors. My co for the entire summer was a vegan, yoga, hippie chick. My other co that was in our cabin for first session was an angry, punk rock, type girl who defined her favorite music as scremo. And then there was me... preppy, clothes lovin, hair straightenin, make up wearin, debutante. Believe it or not for the first few weeks we got along extremely well. After a little while the scremo girl started to get difficult- she didn't ever do anything and the kids didn't respond to her well so 2nd session she was moved out of our cabin into a different part of camp. My other co, the hippie, and I became best friends. I speak to her everyday and just got back from visiting her 2 days ago. Once the scremo girl was moved out of our cabin we started to get along extremely well again. Personalities define who we are but they should not define who we are friends with.

[CAMPFRIEND]

When I was a counselor, I was by myself most of the time. I was a strong counselor so it was hard for most counselors to work with me. I had a problem sitting back. I wish that I would have been more open when I was a counselor!

[camper]

my co my first summer as a counselor was absolutely CRAZY. when the kids were asleep after she came back from nights out she liked to stand on the porch railing and jump into bags filled w/laundry on the porch, not at all safe...and she got the kids all riled up at bedtime. overall she was a good counselor, and i'm FAR from mellow but definitely not as wild as she was. the kids liked her so i really could care less if she was crazy, but sometimes it was like whoaaa.

last summer my co would tell kids drinking stories, um hello, innapropriate...then she was like to them about me, "i'm sure she tells you stories too, right?" and the kids were like "ummm NO." she was kind of quiet and just blended into the background and the kids didn't really listen to her, and i felt bad for her. by the end it got better though.

i think the key is when you have a counselor who is different than you are, remember to try not to let the kids realize it annoys you, you have to present yourselves as a team, kind of like parents when they are trying to be firm w/their children.

[rockinsmiles]

I had a co this past year that really bugged me. in fact he got on all of the staff's nerves...and might i mention that he was fired. thankfully i only had him for 2 weeks but that is still longer than anyone else did! However, i did have an experience with the staff in my cabin. My first week i was in a cabin with 2 other girls that i had become really good friends with during training. i loved them and loved that we were in a cabin together. but i had a harder time working with the age group i was with and another counselor was having the same problem so after that first week our director switched us. I was moved into a cabin with one staff who had been my CIT before. This might sound find but really i didnt know her well at all and the fact that she use to be in "charge" of my so to speak made it kind of weird. Then then there was the other counselor. We were complete and total oppisites. It didnt help with closeness that i slept upstairs so i was away from the other 2. The first week in there i was not happy. i barely spoke with the other 2 staff and the one counselor was always telling me what to do with my campers! the 2nd week got better. and by the 3rd we were becoming friends!

I was more than happy that we all got along. we became such good friends and had so much fun in the cabin after second week that even though the first 2 weeks were hard i think it was a huge learning experience!

[martha27]

overall i think that the decisions made about which counselors are put together are extremely important. it can make or break the summer in many repsects, both for kids and for the counselors. i think it's good to put counselors together who aren't exactly the same, that they have some different interests, attributes....it gives a good balance. as long as both(or however many ther are) are there for the kids and have the same goals in that sense it works great. you can learn so much from eachother, as can the kids

[Fallen]

Normally there's always that one person who gives you trouble and I just always ignore them and do what I can to not let them bother me.

I did have one year where I clashed with everyone and it was hard to deal with it. Overall I think you have to try to not let it affect how you are with the campers and if it gets to a point you should have a talk with your camp directors and explain your concerns if the problem keeps happening and you feel it's affecting the campers time at camp.

[collissimon]

I've had a couple of people who are really different from me, who I really get along with: I suppose that's why I love going to camp!

My live-in specialist this year was a really religious person from South Africa. He'd had a really different background to me, a lot more freedom in some ways and less in others. I really like him, and got along really well, and learnt loads from him. He was a great person to bounce ideas off of, and I really hope he comes back next year!

I think the people who I have more... difficulty with, are those who aren't there for the kids (such a cliche!), or aren't really about having fun with the kids. I think irrespective of differences, as long as they are there for the kids, you can get along with them. It's when they're messing around where you have problems!

[rockinsmiles]

Yeah when staff arent "right" for camp it normally doesnt make them the easiest to get along with. but i do think that at camp you become friends with ppl who would never dream of becoming friends with otherwise! and i love that about camp. i love that you can be yourself and everybody respects that about you. that they even encourge you to! just another reason why i love camp :D

[collissimon]

It is ace, camp just rules :)