Playin' for Pay

While other kids were flipping burgers and mowing lawns over summer break, Jordan Brooks was busy playing volleyball, hiding and seeking, hiking and being adored by a group of younger campers at Blue Mountain Ranch near Florissant, the same camp that he went to every summer as a boy.

"Camp was always the highlight of the year for me ... I had always just assumed that I would be a counselor," says Brooks, who is originally from Dallas and is currently a student at Colorado College. "You get to go to camp and get paid for it! You get to play sports or hike in the woods all day, and you make some of the best friends you'll ever have."

"Honestly, I had just as much fun when I was working as a counselor than when I was a camper," says Abigail Tudor, who will be spending her tenth summer at the YMCA's Camp Shady Brook near Deckers in 2009, her second year as a counselor after two years of being a counselor in training.

"It has been such an important and influential part of my life," she continues. "Meeting different kids from all different walks of life gave me a totally new perspective. It was so amazing and touching to see all the kids throughout the summer change, just like I had when I was a kid."

Getting paid to have fun? Sounds like a great deal, but any camp counselor will tell you that the rewards go far beyond the salary. Being put in the position of role model to a group of younger children is truly a learning experience. "I learned how to laugh out loud with confidence. I learned how to smile courageously. I learned how my character can shine no matter what I'm doing," says Allison Raum, who will spend her second year as a counselor at the Girl Scout's Sky High Ranch near Woodland Park this summer. "I would definitely recommend this experience." Considering the fact that Raum plans on teaching, counseling provides fantastic, hands-on preparation for her future career. But any young adult can benefit from the independence and responsibility the counseling experience offers.

"Being away an entire summer really prepared me for college and helped me grow up from being a teenager to being more of an adult," Tudor explains. "It prepared me to go off and live on my own and showed me how to create strong bonds and relationships with other people."

Becoming a camp counselor takes a lot of work, and every camp has different requirements and training programs. Salary and length of service also vary from camp to camp. But what seems to be universal is the unique social environment of the summer camp, an environment where kids - and counselors - feel free.

"In schools and social settings, it is hard for kids to get along due to the different cliques and groups," says Tudor. "But at Shady Brook, everyone gets along because they are able to put their home and school like aside and focus on being themselves."

"At camp, you really let all of yourself show," Raum agrees. "You learn so much about yourself."

It's a job that Brooks wouldn't trade for flipping burgers, or even for a lazy summer of hanging out and playing video games. Not in a million years.

"Not only is being a camp counselor more fun than a typical job you would get at home, but it's more meaningful, as well," he says. "You know that you have had an impact on kids' lives and that they'll remember you."

The boost to the self confidence doesn't hurt either, Brooks jokes. "The younger kids are great because they think you're SO cool."