Well, I picked myself up, dusted myself off...and got on with my life.
I'd learned something very interesting...that it was OK for me to contact camps and do the "leg-work" rather than wait for them to come to me.
I got my rejection email that morning, and that night I sat down, and started searching the American Camp Association website.
Obviously there are a lot of camps out there, and I couldn't apply to them all! Rather than search by state (which is an option), I decided my search criteria would be -
- Co-ed Camp (I think it's important for boys and girls to learn to work together, respect each other, and that girls are just as good as boys)
- Overnighter Camp (I know it'd be half as much work to be a counsellor at a Day Camp, but it also seems like it'd be half as much fun!)
- Fencing and Archery Programmes (I do both sports, and it'd give me a variety of activities I could take part in)
This brought up quite a few camps, though insisting on a fencing programme seriously reduced my list! It's not a very common sport, I've found. I was still faced with pages and pages of camps, so I added to my criteria, to get a short-list. I decided not to go for states that I knew would be almost unbearably hot. California and Florida were immediately struck from the list!
I also decided that to begin with, I wouldn't apply for camps that were hugely focussed on religion. I have been raised to respect all religions and views. If they're not causing any harm...what does it matter that they're different to me? So I chose to exclude religion-specific camps to begin with.
Eventually, after some more whittling, I ended up with a short-list of about 6 camps.
Then I reviewed my search criteria. These were all Traditional camps. I was quite disappointed that none of the camps offering Fencing were "Inner-City/Underprivileged Camps". I'd felt really drawn to this type of camp.
So I started a new list. My initial criteria was the same - Co-Ed, Overnighter. But I searched for camps that catered to "at risk" and "inner city" children. This brought up a much shorter list to choose from. In the end, I had 4 camps on that short-list.
I applied for all 10 camps that night. I wasn't sure what I needed to say in my email, since I didn't know if all they needed was my name and they could search an online database or something. I think it took about an hour to construct my basic application email!
In the end I -
- Attached my CV (resume)
- Explained I was using CCUSA and had taken the initiative to apply direct to them
- Enthused about their camp
- Briefly explained who I was (name, age, location, bit about me, etc)
- Gave a brief summary of my most relevant work with children
- Explained why I want to work at camp/with children
- Summarised my university study, my full-time work and my future career aims
- Detailed my interests/hobbies
It was quite a short email, four paragraphs long, each paragraph about 5 or 6 lines. But it had all the important details - the "highlights" of my indepth CCUSA application. It was to the point, bubbly, perky and enthusiastic! I channeled my inner-American and bounced away from the typical British reservedness!
Then it was time to once again sit...and wait...
***Warning*** Please see this post which involves my reply from CCUSA following my emails to these camps. I'll keep updating when I hear more from CCUSA.
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