During my four years in college, I needed to earn money to get me through the summer months, but I hated the fact that I couldn’t travel. A friend I met on a previous trip had spent a summer working as a cabin counselor at an American children’s camp and told me how during this time they gave you all your food and lodging for free and after camp you were able to travel the states. . Not only was their accommodation free, but they also paid for their round-trip airfare.
This sounded like the perfect solution, free flight, food and lodging and the chance to travel, what more could you ask for? After further investigation, I applied for a cabin counselor position and was accepted into a camp called Walt Whitman. This beautiful campground was smack dab in the middle of the New Hampshire countryside, made up of log cabins and large indoor activity rooms. Where the main dining room was, you looked out over a lake that we used for different activities like swimming and boating. It was just awesome.
The camp was a Jewish camp run by Bill and Nancy Dorfman and had been in the family for years. His main focus was on sports and the camp was made up of many different activities such as basketball, tennis, baseball, swimming, and soccer, but to name a few. Our job as cabin monitors consisted of taking care of a small group of children (usually around 7 or eight in total) and taking them to all the different activities that were planned for that particular day. There were three cabin counselors in each cabin and my children were the youngest and only seven or eight years old.
Getting everyone up in the morning in our cabin was quite a challenge as the kids didn’t really like early starts, but with a little coaxing they would eventually surface. We all went to the dining room for breakfast, which was always a hectic mass of people trying to get as much food into their mouths as possible. With a full stomach, it was time for the morning meeting and catching up on the news. This was a daily ritual held at the flagpole right after the flag was raised, boy do Americans love their flags.
Taking care of so many children (I think there were 1000 in all) and planning their days was quite a task and the owners put in all the time before the camp started to organize every last detail. We had set activities for each day, made in a list so there was no confusion. Our job was to get the kids to the next activity on time and in one piece, which, believe me, was no easy task. Even though our kids were pretty good you had some who just complained I don’t want to do that I’m too tired I don’t like it I hate you it was just some of their complaints And of course we would always smile and say you’ll love it if you try, as the kids would collapse to the ground and refuse to move. You certainly learn to be a very patient person when it comes to dealing with young children, but the rewards far outweigh the struggle.
In addition to sports, the children were able to do all kinds of crafts, such as carpentry, sewing, clay modeling, painting, and many more. On Saturday we would all have a BBQ on a huge open fire (done in turns due to the number of people) and after everyone had eaten we would head to the ballroom for our line dancing session with Mrs. Dorfman Senior at the microphone guiding us through every step. Our kids never really enjoyed the dance, but the counselors loved it and would be there for hours.
In addition to daily camp activities, each cabin would head out on an overnight camping adventure during their stay and participate in regular hiking days once a week, exploring the local New Hampshire countryside. Older children went on a multi-day hiking or mountain biking adventure and were given more privileges because of their age. Overall the camp was held in a beautiful location with fantastic facilities and provided an incredibly full and active summer for all the children lucky enough to be able to participate. My time at Walt Whitman was great and he really gave me insight into how American kids view the world, we’re actually not that different, well maybe just a little bit.