Camp America 2025: Green Chimneys, NY

My traineeship has deepened my knowledge of different cultural perspectives. My fellow counsellors and campers come from a wide range of backgrounds, and has helped me see how people’s background and culture can influence their behaviour, communication and expectations. Campers behaviour and communication has varied massively based on these factors, and as a result has strengthened my empathy and adaptability by understanding how background shapes individual needs. At home, I am very used to being surrounded by people with similar or the same cultural traits. After spending town in a new environment with people from a range of backgrounds and cultures, it has made me realise how different my cultural traits can be. The way in which I communicate, concept of personal space, and interpretation of people’s actions and words at times are very different to other people I work with. This has taught me to be more conscious of my actions, how they may be interpreted differently and therefore n...

 Whilst Camp America isn’t directly linked to my course of Media Production, and I have now completed said course, it has given me skills that will be transferable to my future career choice of being a Maths teacher. When working with my 1:1 I have learnt to be creative in my approach, patient and calm in responding to his complex needs. I believe these are important skills to have and are important to my future career. Children learn at different speeds so I need to be patient when working with them, but also creative in my teaching approach to help teach things in a different way as all children learn differently. During my interview about my role at camp, I knew I would be working 1:1, but I didn’t know what his needs would be. His diagnosis is complex and he has very high needs. In the past, I have only worked 1:1 for a few hours at time, as we rotate staff members with the students who need it, so this is something I’ve not done before as I have to have eyes on him and be with...

 When I first arrived to camp, it was a big shock. I had been awake and travelling for close to 24 hours and had arrived to a completely rural and partly run down camp, on a hot summer day. This shock very quickly dissipated over the following few days as I began to settle in and make more friends, and I started to feel more at ease and comfortable with my new surroundings. As I had been at university for 3 years, it wasn’t difficult being away from home as I was very used to this living situation. I did miss my family often, but not to the extent where I couldn’t find it comfortable.  At my camp I live in a cabin of 28 boys, 4 of which act as RA’s, someone we can go to if we want to voice any concerns or issues we may have. The living arrangement is very different to that of home, as we have 4 people to a room on bunks beds. Each room is separated by a wall which doesn’t reach the ceiling and a curtain as a door for privacy. It is a different situation to how I live at home, ...

 Once deciding I wanted to do Camp America, I had to go through a long application process which involved numerous steps. Firstly, I had to do an interview where I discussed my interests of what I wanted to work as and why I wanted to go to camp. After successfully completing the interview, my application was sent out to be viewed by camos. I received an offer from a camp in Wisconsin, but ultimately decided it was not the right fit for me. I wasn’t receiving offers from any other camps after this so I emailed Green Chimneys Summer Camps myself and they got back in touch asking if I could complete an interview with them. I received an offer at the end of the interview and immediately said yes. AJ and Landy, the two camp directors who interviewed me, were very friendly and explained the camps routine and values which made the decision to accept the position a no brainer. The rest of the process involved background checks, medical evaluations and a trip to London for my working VISA ...

 About Me My name is Obi and I recently graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 in BA (Hons) Media Production. I have always enjoyed various forms of media such as films, TV shows and radio and have been intrigued by the technical processes behind them and what makes them so interesting to consumers. For this reason I knew it would be a suitable course for my interests. For the past 3.5 years I have worked in my local secondary school as a Teaching Assistant and am keen to pursue a career in being a Maths Teacher. I love my job, but wanted to challenge myself by throwing myself into a different environment doing a role I am not used to. Camp America was the perfect opportunity to do just that. It is in a country I love which provides the comfort I need and ability to explore, but also a new set of expectations as my role as a pastoral figure to the children which I work with. Camp America was a draw to me for a variety of reasons. As stated above I knew it would provide me...