Name:
Richard Small
Company: BUNAC
Camp: Brant Lake Camp, Upstate New York
Position: Area/Group head of Intermediate
B (10-11yr olds)
Years at camp: 6
It
all began in 2002 when I finished my A-levels and
had decided to take a year out, it would turn out
to be a working holiday that changed my life. My experiences
at camp are unrivalled and it's something that I love
to do. As I am writing this I am finalising my visa
for my sixth summer at Camp and there could be more...
I
had put aside one summer to go and be a camp counselor
because as a kid I remember watching 'Bug Juice' in
the school holidays and thinking "I want to go". I
never had the chance as a child and i wanted to travel
on my own so i started surfing the internet for a
route into this adventure, which led me to www.bunac.org.
At
the time i was 17 and wasn't really eligible for summer
camp (generally you have to be 18 to apply), However
i would turn 18 before i flew out and was eligible
for a J1 visa. Throughout my teenage life I gained
a lot of experience of working with children - i was
head coach for 2 youth football teams (with coaching
badges) and junior captain at the local golf club
and also worked in a children's adventure centre as
a leader.
This
luckily got me accepted into the visa sponsorship
program via BUNAC
and i was eventually selected at the last minute by
'Brant Lake Camp'. Now a lot of people said that i
would be too young to do it, even in the interview
they didn't fancy my chances of getting a placement
but they (BUNAC)
kept trying and for that i have to thank them.
At
a later date the camp director even said it was a
last minute gamble that he selected me due to another
member of staff withdrawing a week before the start
of camp. (I don't mean to discourage younger applicants
but it is much easier to get onto these programs if
you are over the age of 18 and have at least some
experience of working with children in a leadership
role.)
Brant
Lake Camp is a predominantly Jewish sports camp for
boys aged 7-16. It is rather affluent with children
mainly coming from the New York City area. It has
a strong family tradition and even has fourth- generation
campers (Their great grandparents went to the same
camp). The kids stay at camp all summer and generally
return year-after-year (40 of the 55 graduating campers
had been returning there for 7 years or more). More
info is here (www.brantlake.com)
So,
a week before i left for the states i got the acceptance
email from the camp director telling me i'd be a counselor
at his camp. The worrying thing for me was that camp
would be in progress when i arrived - all the other
counselors had been there for a fortnight and the
kids got there 5 days later. I would be thrown in
at the deep end!
To
say I was apprehensive would be an understatement
but i had always wanted to do this so I took the plunge
and accepted the offer. A week later i set off for
the States, on my own, to one of the busiest cities
in the world. As it was late there was only one other
counselor at the BUNAC
hostel that night but the guys there gave us all the
information we needed. Wandering around the city that
night was an experience i'll never forget.
The
next day i took off to the bus station and got the
Greyhound to the Adirondack Mountains, up-state New
York. It took 5 hours but the scenery was beautiful.
america is so vast, all people tend to see are images
of deserts and cities but we drove hundreds of miles
on the freeway into the mountains through thick forests.
It was then i realised another thing... my hayfever
didn't occur in America.
I
arrived at camp wondering what i'd be faced with,
i knew no-one, had no idea what job i'd be doing or
what kids i'd be looking after. but the first face
i saw was a guy called Richie, the camp owner. He
recognised me instantly (he knows everyone before
they arrive and i have no idea how he does it!) and
showed me round, introducing me to kids, counselors,
alum and the rest.
What
took me aback was not the vastness of the camp, nor
the beauty of the surroundings, what caught my eye
was how much fun everyone was having. There were kids
and counselors everywhere playing games, having lessons
and having fun.
It
was then i knew i'd made the right decision. About
an hour later i was settled into my bunk with another
counselor from England with six eight year olds asking
continuous questions. (and to answer the popular myth:
they do all think we know the queen at that age).
To
cut a long story short, the summer went like lightning,
every day was better than the last and the progress
the kids made was amazing. 'Soccer' as they call it
was just getting popular over there and the willingness
to learn and progress was 10 times what it is with
children over here. They listen, they're polite and
as i said before, they're fun. In a flash it was visiting
day (where the kids had so much candy I was nearly
sick!), colour war, tournaments against other camps
and then the final day came - it was over.
The
boys that were crying with homesickness on the first
day were crying because they had to leave, Everyone
piled onto the buses back to the city as the counselors
got ready for the second part of the adventure - post-camp.
I'll
break the story to quote my camp's director; "To every
child here you will be their friend, their big brother,
their dad and their teacher". It's said at the start
of every summer and only takes 30seconds with the
kids to understand and believe it. They hang on your
every word, they love your attention and will follow
you round until it gets dark.
From
the first moment you meet the kids to the last, they're
your friend. even during the winter i keep in touch
with some of the kids who send me emails telling me
they've just won a 'soccer' game or lost a tooth etc...
You make friends for life at camp!
To
learn more about working at summer camp with BUNAC
visit: www.bunac.org.uk
Contact
Website:
www.bunac.org.uk
Email: enquiries@bunac.org.uk
Tel:
020 7251-3472
Fax:
020 7251-0215
Address: 16 Bowling Green Lane, London, EC1R
0QH
