Hello everyone, I am now almost a month into my Masters of Library and Information Sciences at Western University in London, and have come to appreciate my time at Kintail as part of my academic and professional growth. It has surprised me how much I think about camp during my classes and how much my job as Admin has prepared me for a future career as an information professional. In my copyright class I am reminded of how complicated it was to put together the song book, in my records management class I reflect on my experience of filing all of our camper records and working with the Camp Brain database, in my working in the field class I come to understand the different structures of organizations and see how unique camp is. People often think of working at a summer camp as separate from their path toward a real world job, but as it turns out, it is the beginning of that path for many of us. If I had not worked as admin for the three years I did, there is no way I would have known that I love that type of work and should pursue it in school. You can see the truth in that by the numerous staff members who have gone on to become teachers or child and youth workers because they recognize the love they have for inspiring and working with children, or the few that have taken school for adventure recreation because they found their passion leading our trippers, or those that become ministers or work in other aspects of children’s ministry. I am blessed to have camp as the stepping stone for whatever career I end up in, as it was both a challenging and rewarding work environment that will no doubt always have an impact on the way I view my education and work. I urge those of you who are in school or who are working to take a minute to reflect on how Kintail has shaped your career path too.
-Marine/Alana Henrich
A Similar Experience
I worked as the Music and Drama director for two summers. I pursued Theatre Production in University, and for the past two years have been working as a freelance lighting designer and technician.
Earlier this week I ran a Lighting Workshop at a local theatre. It was a two days course that taught the basic elements to lighting design and tech work. It was my first time teaching something like this. However, as I set up in the theatre, prepping everything I wanted to do with the participants, it reminded me of my many MAD sessions. Being a Program Person at Camp Kintail taught me how to plan a course, make sure I had all the materials I needed, and how to execute it so that a wide array of individuals would find it interesting.
The course was a success.
Thanks, Camp Kintail.