By Victoria D., GSNCCP Girl Board Member

Hi everyone! My name is Victoria and I’m one of the six Girl Scout Girl Board Members! I’m excited to be blogging for the council and sharing my experiences as a Girl Scout.

Summer is one of my favorite seasons as it usually consists of lots of time by the pool and attending my favorite Girl Scout camps! However, this summer that all changed. I had the pleasure of going from a camper to a camp counselor at Camp Mary Atkinson, a beautiful resident camp owned by Girl Scouts – NC Coastal Pines.

A Girl Scout summer camp attendee for almost a decade, I had always dreamed of becoming a counselor and helping other girls create memorable camp experiences. I vividly remember, at seven years old, being dropped off for my first Girl Scout camp session, “Here Comes the Sun.” I was nervous and scared, but my camp counselors put me right at ease. One week later when my parents came to pick me up, the first words out of my mouth were “When can I come back?” Girl Scout camp became everything and more to me!

I wanted to create these same kinds of experiences for fellow Girl Scout campers, which is why I enrolled in the CIT (Counselor-In-Training) sessions that would prepare me for a counselor role at summer camp. These three weeks of training were awesome! Everyone in my training group instantly gelled and I knew it was going to be a great summer.

After training I was hired as Staff-In-Training or SIT, which is the title used for counselors under eighteen. As I prepared to greet the first wave of campers for the summer I took a moment to remember what I had loved most about my camp counselors when I was young.  All my former counselors had been enthusiastic and ready for anything and everything. They were energetic, fun, and made me feel right at home. They were a big part of why my camp experience was so great and I knew I wanted to embody those traits as well.

By the end of the summer I had achieved these goals and more. Not only had I helped girls have a great time at summer camp, but I realized that I had also pushed myself out of my comfort zone and even gotten over my fear of spiders! I learned to listen to others more and learned my strengths as a leader. However, the two most important things I learned this summer is that patience is truly a virtue and that learning how to adapt to new ways and ideas is a really useful skill!

This summer was one of the best of my life and I highly recommend Girl Scout camp as a camper and a counselor. Both experiences help you strengthen your leadership skills while having a blast and also help you discover things you never knew about yourself!

What have you learned by attending Girl Scout summer camp? Any young campers out there want to become counselors one day?