Testimonials from Former & Current Counselors

Be sure to check out our podcast, Beyond the Bugle, including this episode about the impact our counselors have on our campers!

​I learned invaluable lessons from my 5 summers as a counselor. I learned leadership skills, conflict resolution, responsibility, and how to delegate. I learned to work with people of all ages, coming from different backgrounds- from my campers and co-counselors, to senior staff members. Being a camp counselor is
the most rewarding, well-rounded experience that you cannot find anywhere else. Camp DEFINITELY helped me get into Graduate School, and helped me get my first job. I wouldn’t change my decision to keep going back for anything."- 
Social Work Intern State Assembly Member Rebecca Seawright’s Office, New York University Master of Social Work

It’s a shame that internship pressure is on the rise. Despite the seeming importance placed on internships, I don’t know a single person who received a direct job offer for after graduation from anywhere that they interned over the summer during undergrad. I have no idea where this perception came from. I chose to work at camp every summer through college and even half of the summer after I graduated (4.5 years), and I received a job offer the week of graduation. This was even in the engineering field, an industry for which many seem to think that internships lead to a job. Working at camp every summer was the best decision that I made through college. I was able to develop strong friendships with fellow staff from all over the world. Some of my best “camp friends” are non-ex-campers that I met during my counselor years, or ex-campers of other ages that I never interacted with when I was younger. I was also able to develop an incredible relationship with my campers, many of whom I am still in touch with.

Most applicable today, I have been able to extensively discuss my camp experience in my business school and post-MBA job interviews, highlighting the following skills:

1. As a counselor, I learned how to successfully work on a team with my fellow staff to execute a common goal, sometimes under stressful situations.
2. As an AGL, I managed staff who were often several years older than me, a skill that is very important to fast career growth in any company or industry.
3. As an olympics general, I learned how to handle unexpected additional responsibilities, further improved my management skills by placing me in charge of an even larger number of counselors and campers with little notice.
4. I gained experience working with international staff members across various native cultures and languages, which has become increasingly important to employers in today’s globalizing landscape.
5. I developed my confidence in public speaking and executive presence by leading evening activities, and being on stage in front of the entire camp.

​These skills are incredibly important in all career paths, and ones that you will never gain by making copies, organizing files, or fetching coffees at a traditional undergraduate-level internship."

-GMBA at Cornell University, North America Zone Logistics Intern Anheuser Busch

Camp Towanda has been an excellent resource for networking in my professional life. I have my current position at a healthcare technology company in New York City because of my extended Towanda network. In my previous position as a healthcare consultant I often found myself on the golf course with my client...who also happened to be my Camp Towanda big brother in 1997. Although my camp career ended 10 years ago, my Towanda network is an important part of my professional network to this day. "

​-HMS Account Manager 

I think it’s really easy to get lured away to an internship because you think that’s what you are supposed to do and that’s the best way to get a good job after graduation. But in today’s world, you have to distinguish yourself from a large pool of people that are thinking the same thing. Everyone  gets an internship, everyone makes photocopies and makes boxes and does coffee runs. Not everyone is a camp counselor. You don’t get the same experience with hands-on leadership at an internship as you do working at camp and don’t have the opportunity to make so many unexpected connections. Camp is a really special place and while it certainly makes sense to pursue an internship if you have a particular interest, you shouldn’t rule out another summer at camp if you are on the fence. Camp is a place to prove your responsibility, develop your ability to function well under stress, and maintain a fun, easy going environment, which are all things employers value. And also, you’ll have a job for the rest of your life! This is your last chance to have this extremely unique and life changing experience for one last summer." 

​- Associate Rockport Group

Being a counselor at Camp Towanda was extremely rewarding. As a counselor I was able to learn about the importance of responsibility and leadership. The counselor experience taught me so many things and was a great transition from my childhood to adulthood. Camp provided me with the opportunity to develop crucial skills that have translated into my adult and professional life."

​- Account Executive, Mission Atheletecare

You can tell anyone who thinks they are better served doing an internship that they are incorrect. I worked at camp until I graduated from college and I couldn’t be more happy with that choice. Once you start working there are no summers off, and little time outdoors. Believe me when you are older you miss those days more than the ones from your first job. I am now 51 years old and, as you know, I see my Towanda friends on many occasions during the year. Those friends provide invaluable guidance and assistance during the year and have also sent me business. The contacts you make from Towanda are better than the ones you get as a young employee. They will ultimately have a wide array of jobs and those contacts will serve you better as you get older then any other contacts you make. Amongst my Towanda friends who were campers, counselors and my campers, are as wide a variety of jobs as you could ask for. I have close friends who are lawyers, doctors, judges, HVAC, lighting, home goods, teachers, and advertising to think of a few. These friends are unlike any others because you don’t just work with them, you live with them. Consequently, these are people you can always turn to for advice, guidance, and just support when you go through some bad times."

​​- The Ashley Law Firm, PLLC