As the school year comes to a close, many of us may find ourselves (after cramming for exams and finishing final papers) searching for summer employment. My mother, knowing this time is fast approaching, called me last week to give me the low down on job opportunities in Timmins. Needless to say there were slim to none. Timmins is one of those towns where you need to know the “right” people to get a decent job, which are few and far between. In light of this, I mentioned during the conversation the idea of returning to Swallowdale International, the children’s summer camp I’ve worked at for the past three summers. “What!?” she screamed at me “absolutely not! It’s time for you to grow up and get a real job!” A real job? This annoyed me.  According to my mom, I haven’t had a real job my entire life because working as a camp counsellor “doesn’t count”. When I asked her why exactly it “didn’t count” I was met with “because you were paid peanuts to go on vacation and have fun for two months!” Hm. Then is a real job somewhere I hate waking up to go to in the morning or something I get paid ten thousand dollars to do but never see the light of day? So the question is…what is a real job?

To me there is nothing more real than living away from home, taking responsibility for not only yourself, but for ten younger campers, waking up to a mess hall of songs and laughter, and following through with a day in the sun, teaching international students English and how we do things here in Canada. Leading a handful of campers through portage trails and across great lakes, eating out of barrels and singing songs around a campfire, to me this is a real job with real people and real life experiences. I would do it for free…okay maybe not free because I do still have tuition to pay, but it’s definitely not the monetary wages that draw people like me back year after year. I think it’s the payment of life experiences that are unattainable at any other summer job that have that gravitational pull on my heart. Please recognize that I am not trying to convince every single person out there to become a camp counsellor, we all know that it takes a certain kind of someone to live without hot water for two months and go to the bathroom in the bush using nature’s t.p , but I just offer some food for thought. When searching for employment opportunities this summer, I encourage you all to get a real job.
Ali Holmes