Its official. Placement confirmed, flights booked, and visa approved. This can only mean one thing... I am heading back to the US!
"Can I check you've got your passport, your DS160 confirmation, your appointment booking, and your SEVIS receipt...?"
I am getting to that point in my life where I am expected to grow up. I have just a few weeks left at Brunel before my time there comes to an end and simultaneously the best and worst thing about university... Graduation. Final year has certainly been tough, and not just because of the course. By far the hardest part of the year is finding a 'grown up job'. After accumulating £50k in debt, I feel compelled to apply for these so I can spend the rest of my life paying that £50k off. Since October, I have sent off application after application trying to convince people I want to work for them. Therefore, there was some doubt about whether I'd go back to the USA this summer. Although most Graduate Schemes start in September, some start earlier. This means potentially beginning work during the summer, so being in the USA at that time, well, might not be a great idea...
Flash forward to December. It is 1 week before my December exams, the job hunt isn't going well, and to be honest, I was so fed up with university. With no guaranteed job after graduation, the dissertation motivation was close to zero. I was spending hour after hour, day after day revising. And for what... I may appear like someone who likes adventure and putting myself out of my comfort zone, but actually, the thought of finishing my degree in May and having no prospects scared the hell out of me.
Things changed though after working at a Camp Leaders hiring fair in December. I was working with a colleague assisting him and a few Camp Directors with interviews to place people to camp. It was a successful day, and it was great to see so many people ecstatic that they would be heading to camp. During the quieter times, as usually happens with Camp Leaders events, I was reminiscing about camp to one of my colleagues, who happens to be an assistant director at a camp. It was at that point I remembered what had got me through my previous years at university: the prospect of going to camp. To be honest, I missed camp, and I knew then that I didn't just want to return to America, I HAD to return to America.
After hearing my colleague talk about his camp in such high esteem, I had a bit of a google when I got home. And it looked fantastic. A few of my friends from Camp Leaders had been there too, and all said exactly the same thing.
This brings me to the present day. This week, I now have booked flights and confirmed my J1 visa for the summer, so I am officially returning to camp. With 19 days left unustil my dissertation hand in, I finally have something to keep me going.
But, the thing is, I'm not really returning to camp at all...
I've eluded to it before, but I will be heading to a new camp this summer. After hearing my colleague talking about his camp, I thought, well, let's try something different given this is probably the last chance I will get before I finally have to enter the real world. I'll still be lifeguarding and swim teaching, but this will be a new challenge for me. Bigger camp (it's one of the biggest out of 500 Camp Leaders work with), new people, and a different environment.
Yes, starting a new camp also scares the hell out of me, but in a good way; not in a "you're graduating with £50k debt, no job, and you'll be sat at home watching Jezza Kyle all day" kind of way. Perhaps one of my problems during camp last year was complacency. I though I was a camp legend at times, and it's hard for me to admit, but I did think because I'd been there before and that I worked for Camp Leaders that I knew it all. Newsflash: I didn't. After all, camp was my life, camp was my comfort zone, and I was basically being paid to talk about camp. Whilst I think I did a great job in 2016, I could have done better - especially during the final session. Now, I will have to slightly start afresh, and put myself out of my comfort zone all over again.
I did worry slightly what others would think of the decision to move camps, especially others at my old camp. Would they think I was a snake? Abandoning them? Abandoning the campers? Or would they simply be happy to see the back of me? But, bar a few exceptions, this hasn't been the case at all. From the people I spoke to, most are supportive, albeit a bit disappointed/gutted I won't be back (indeed, I would be too and was when some 2014 staff didn't return in 2016). To those who are supportive, thank you, and I hope you have an amazing time this summer if you are returning to camp.
I want to make it clear my decision was not about my old camp at all. My old camp was (and still will be) incredible, and the work it does to give around 300 children 16 amazing days away from home is fantastic. Given the campers were all from a homeless background in New York, I felt incredibly proud to be a part of that. Whilst I will still be at a camp this summer, I will miss it. If I didn't absolutely love both summers at camp, then I wouldn't be returning with Camp Leaders for a third summer, and wouldn't have been working for Camp Leaders for nearly three years. I would like to extend a huge thank you to my old camp: you changed me greatly for the better, and I will be eternally thankful for that.
The fact in just 80 days I'll be back in the states is such a great feeling. If you can't tell, I f*cking love camp. Given that I haven't managed to get a grad job just yet (although hopefully I will instead by studying for a Masters in Economics from September) it means I will be doing something worthwhile this summer. Spending most of the day swimming, giving campers an amazing summer, and travelling the USA this summer... Can. Not. Wait!
