Boy Scouts of America – Camp Counselor, Camp Alpine, NJ, July-August, 2011-2013

• Served as a leader of youth at summer camp: This was a two month long summer camp where several Cub Scout groups (grades 1-5) attend from different regions one week at a time. This takes place in a wooded region with rangers and staff who guarantee a fun and safe learning experience and vacation. As an adult leader, my job along with the positions I was placed in is to make sure everyone has an enjoyable stay and to deal with any suggestions or complaints the parents had about the camp itself.
  • Supervised and instructed shooting sports – Archery and BB Guns (Summer 2011 & 2013): As a certified shooting range safety officer for rifle, BB, and archery, it is my responsibility to make sure these children who wanted to try out BB gun shooting and archery understood how to properly handle these tools and to follow the strict guidelines we had for the range itself. This included putting on eye and ear protection, keeping the tools pointed in a safe direction (down the range) at all times, and to obey all the rules and directions of the range safety officers. There is a lot of focus on discipline and concentration.
  • Supervised and instructed scouting and survival skills (Summer 2012): As an Eagle Scout, I was put in charge of teaching the older Cub Scouts (referred to as Weblos) the skills they needed to cross over into the full Boy Scout rank. This includes fire building and safety, first aid skills, knot tying, cooking skills and safety, memorizing and understanding scouting virtues, and so much more.
  • Supervised and instructed field sports (Summer 2011-2013): During the last couple of weeks, there are far younger children attending from both scouts and other summer camps, which requires shifting jobs to accommodate for the numbers. I was given the task of sports field director which took place at an open field with a baseball diamond in the corner. Here I was in charge of watching the campers play sports like baseball, soccer, kickball, and sometimes even relay races. This required an understanding of the rules and playing styles for each game in order to teach children who didn’t know how to play, and it required my full participation as either a coach, pitcher, or some other small position in order to keep a closer eye on the group and  to not look inactive.
• Other day-to-day responsibilities
  • Emergency fire watch: There are times when staff members must report any fire safety hazards and must take precautions for any possible fire emergencies.
  • Medical staff: Staff members must have a general understanding of first aid procedures, CPR training, make sure first aid kits at every area are fully stocked, and assist the camp nurse and EMT with any help they require.
  • Office work: Once a day every week, each one of the staff members including myself must wait behind the main office desk for any visitors that appear during the week, take phone calls, fill out documents, and answer any questions from anyone who enters the office.
  • Youth protection: Because the camp is for younger campers, all staff are required to take youth protection training to prevent any questionable actions and for the protection of the campers. This required such things like the buddy system, understanding “2-deep leadership” which meant never going out of site of the other campers, and other safety regulations.
  • Ranger work: Often times the rangers of the camp required extra assistance pitching up and putting down tents, moving fallen trees out of the way, cleaning up the cabins nearby, repainting buildings where activities took place, and more.
  • Guide for newcomers: At the beginning of every week when campers came, I was required to give them a tour of the camp to show them where to go for each of their daily activities. This required a full understanding of the layout of the campground to prevent losing anyone.