I did Camp America ( but not with kids ) AMA

[Zoflorabore]

Hi all, not sure if anyone is interested in this but it’s something that has shaped my life and it was an experience for sure.

bit of background- I applied through Camp Counsellors USA- ( CCUSA ) but everyone tends to just say Camp America. When applying there was a tick box which asked if you would be able to work at a camp which had disabled people and i ticked YES.

the camp I worked at has been the subject of a Netflix documentary based in the 70’s but has
now closed down for good.

AMA 😊

I did summer camp in 1994. The first night in New York was such a tremendous experience. I'd never been out of Europe before. The camp I worked on was for children with disabilities and I can say with my hand on my heart no harm came to any of those children. We had weeks of swimming music art and trips. Every Saturday afternoon the kids left and we went into New York every week in the bus it was an amazing opportunity. It didn't pay well and I was counting down the days to come home but I'm glad I did it.

@Passmetheaero there were people there of all ages and from all over the world. The more experienced staff (ie nurses) were much older than I was back then. If it’s something you could do I would recommend it.

I hated the first few weeks because it was such a shock to the system. The camp was basic and pretty run down, the food was terrible mainly and although I had made some very strong friendships I just wanted to go home. It was physically and mentally exhausting and some of the guests had very complex needs that I didn’t feel I could deal with properly. Training was very basic to be honest.

@ladybirdsanchez lots of my friends travelled at the end and we did have a few days before our flights were booked and were invited to an American girls house in New Jersey, about 10 of us in all! It was a gorgeous town called Fairhaven and we happened to be there when the fair was on and it was just so American 😂 we stayed couple of nights with her family and all bunked in where we could and then my friendship group took the Amtrak train to NYC and stayed in a fab hotel for the night all together and then the next day me and 1 girl flew home and the other 4 headed to Florida.

Also we did have the opportunity to travel whilst being at camp as they had session breaks where one set of guests would leave and there was a break between the new ones arriving. This ranged from 2-5 days.

the best trip we did was Niagara Falls. We were in New York State in a teeny tiny town with not much locally and the camp was very rural so it was a huge adventure for us. Hired a car, our oldest friend in the group was 25 and therefore they only let her drive and our group and another group did a road trip across the state to Buffalo. 3 of us got matching tattoos ( one girl is in America and the other Australia) and we turned it into a 4 day trip.

Niagara was amazing and so was the boat trip under the falls. I will never forget it.

other breaks were to Atlantic City and New York City for a couple of weekends.

I also did this with camp counsellors! Although mine was a camp for disadvantaged kids from an inner city. It was an experience I won't forget and although it was difficult I think it had an influence on my life which I couldn't have foreseen. It made me so much more resilient amongst other things and also made me much more laid back and more tolerant. I'm glad I did it but an experience that wasn't to be repeated!

My cousin did Camp America in the mid 1980s. Maine somewhere. She loved it. Two of her kids have gone to the same camp (as kids not as counsellors). She met her best friend there. The actual work was secondary to the freedom of being away from parents (she was18) and meeting the fellow counsellors. She eye travel after but not loads , mainly to the homes of people she met there who were mostly American.

I did camp America 3 times, loved every minute of all of it!

I also did my first Camp America in 1998 aged 20. NY state. I ended up doing 3 summers at the same place even though I found camp life hard. I loved the travel, the sun, and just being in America over the summer. It defined that point of my life. Road trips for hours, New Jersey shore, Old Navy, Abercrombie, piling into motels, casinos, the music, girls from camp all going to see Spice Girls on tour that summer.

Weirdly one of the first memories I have was being bussed through JFK and seeing all the black workers. I hadn't seen many black people in my life at that point which sounds weird but I'm from a very white place (or was then), white school, white uni and hadn't really travelled.

I did Work America and we stayed at Columbia for the first night!!

Yes Colombia too! John Jay Hall. Remember it vividly all these years later!

That’s where I stayed too!!

I went and got pizza with a bunch of people I'd met...so many of them were going to the same camps and no one was going to the same one as me. So I bussed it all alone out to western Mass, was one of the first people to arrive. When other staff turned up over the next few days, they'd come in big groups after a night at Colombia.

You either have a great summer or a terrible one all depends on the camp you are placed at, I was sexually harassed daily, isolated in the complete wildnerness, one day off every 3 weeks but stuck in middle of no where and no car etc… genuinely hell. Was before days of internet: whatApp…. my mental health took a massive dip, only saving Grace was my friend was with me and we spent the full 600 dollars we earned for 3 months work at the end in NY before flying home!! Also big big child protection issues now on reflection… if I was American would I send my kids to a summer camp? No way!!!

@Micemice I am so sorry that was your experience. I had a wonderful time BUT can see so clearly that it could easily have been like yours.
I also agree re child protection...I'm presuming it would be a lot different now 30 years later, but it was VERY lax.
I shared a bunk for example with about 10 kids, 3 other adults. We all went out almost every night and came home rip roaring drunk!