Application : Police Check

I've been putting off completing this form for weeks. I've filled out a lot of CRB forms in my life and I just couldn't bear the thought of trawling through the long, tedious from.

But today I finally sat down and went at it. And it wasn't that bad! It's not the usual CRB form, it's some other police check form. It literally took me about 5 minutes to do.

Now all I need to do is add my passport number to the form, take a copy of my passport photo page, make copies of 2 recent official letters with my name and address on, and take a passport sized photo. All this then gets sent off, with a cheque for £35, wait a while, then I'll get a certificate confirming that my record is clean enough to eat off!

This certificate will need uploading onto my CCUSA account, and I'll also need to take it with me to camp.

I'll come back and update this post once I get my certificate...

Application : Taking the Initiative Replies #1 & #2

My first two replies to my email, which was me contacting camps directly, both came through the same night I sent it.

The first one was within 45 minutes. Sadly it was just to say that they were fully staffed for the summer, but thanked me for my interest. That's why I combined the two replies into one blog post - not worth an individual one for such a short reply!

The second reply came through 3 hours after I sent it. It was from one the program director of the camps for "at-risk" children.

He was really positive, was delighted I was so passionate about what they do and was very pleased I'd come to them directly. Score 1 for being cheeky and impatient!

He directed me to their "job-listings" page, so I could familiarise myself with what my options would be (not fencing unfortunately, but this woman has many hats!). He asked if I had any restrictions on dates (I don't) and invited me to contact my CCUSA rep and express an interest in their camp. He has contacted his CCUSA rep to see if it "makes sense to put me on review with the camp", and sounds very keen to get the ball rolling. He's actually out of state on a Spring Break "service trip" with some of the teens for the next couple of weeks, but is still keen to get things moving with CCUSA and see what we can get done next week. This is even though he'll apparently have limited internet/email access!

Positive sounding indeed!

I think the work they do sounds really wonderful, and I would love to be a part of that.

Fingers crossed :)

Application : Taking the Initiative

So I'd been turned down by a camp - the only camp to have shown an interest in me. What now?

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.

Application : Interview #1

Once my application was sent over to America, I thought I had to just sit and wait.

So I did.

Seventeen long days went by without a word, then suddenly...

An email arrived! A camp got in touch and invited me to have a Skype interview with them. I emailed back within 2 hours (it went to my junk mail so I didn't see it right away - watch out for that!), and by the time I went to bed, we'd arranged a time...

...For the very next day!

Wow, they were keen! This was great! 8pm the next day I dressed up into a nice top (bright, fun, but smart-ish), put in some pretty earrings, did my hair etc, and sat down for my interview.

The camp director was a lovely man, very nice and cheerful. It felt like an overall positive interview. He praised my application, said it was very enthusiastic, I had a lot of experience working with kids, and it was great that I was a fencer. He said any camp would snap my hand off, since that's quite a difficult skill to find.

Part way through the interview though, he told me that I was able to apply to camps directly, and encouraged me to do so. He said I could search for camps on the American Camp Association website and contact them myself. I could send an email over, explain I was with CCUSA and ask if they would be interested.

This confused me a lot...was he politely trying to let me know I should be looking elsewhere? He said he and the other directors would be discussing the latest batch of applicants the next day, and I'd hear by the end of the week. He did warn me that they were almost full, as they'd had a lot of early applicants that year. Again...letting me down gently...?

A couple of days later he got back in touch, to let me know I was unsuccessful. I'll admit, I was pretty gutted. I had picked up signs in the interview, so it wasn't a huge surprise, but still...no-one likes being rejected! I did ask for feedback though, and got this reply, which others might find useful too -

Hi,

I thought your interview was fine and I don't have any specific feedback. Because we interview so many people, often it is a mixture of many different factors that go into our final decisions. Something to keep in mind when interviewing is that camps want counselors who have both a big, enthusiastic personality and good judgment and decision making. Other traits to play up include a positive attitude, the ability to adapt to changing situations, and a focus on kids, kids, kids!

Good luck, I'm sure you will find a great camp for the summer.

So, rejection does happen, and it can hurt! But it was a useful experience.

It was my first ever Skype interview, so now I know what that's like.

I got feedback which I can bear in mind (when asked "Why do you want to work at camp?" should I have focussed more on my love of working with kids, than my enthusiasm for learning new thing?).

Most importantly - I learned that I can apply to camps myself. I didn't know that before! I thought I had to sit and wait for camps to contact me.

Also, remember that no matter how positive and keen a camp seems, until you have that offer...don't take anything for granted.

I know it's hard to think it might fall through, God knows I'm a very optimistic person! But if we weren't optimistic, if we were pessimistic and all "Oh this will never happen for me...", then we probably shouldn't be applying for Summer Camp :)

So it's ok to be researching costs and be looking at the local area, it's good to be excited about the idea and to know what you'd be getting yourself in for if you DID get accepted...just don't start booking flights just yet :)

Daily Positive #1

I can't promise to remember to update this daily, but I think it's really important to take time to think about at least one positive from every day.

I find that it does me good to think about all the things I have to be thankful for, and the ways that I'm a very lucky young woman. Some days it might be small things, some days it might be big things, but every day, I'm very lucky.

When I'm having a bad day, when it's hard to smile and be "perky", it's good to remember that there's a little good in everything, if you take the time to find it.

My positives from yesterday (Saturday)...

- Having a lie in

- Hearing back from a camp I really want to work with

- Starting this new blog!

- Getting to spend the day playing with my two littlest siblings

- Having a lovely luxurious bath

- Seeing that my eye is healing quite nicely (I'm recovering from a bout of shingles that affected my left eye)

- Getting to chat to a couple of friends I haven't heard from in a while

- Take out pizza for dinner!

- Starting a Pintrest board to "pin" camp games and activity ideas to (called "Camp Granada" after the song 'Hello mudda...hello fadda...here I am at...Camp Granada!')

Application : Medical Form

As part of the application, I was required to complete a Medical Form. This had to be signed by a medical practitioner and basically had to show that I wasn't going to keel over and die on them at camp!

Rather than explain this to the receptionist at the doctor's surgery, and risk having them try and make me pay for a medical, I simply made an appointment to see the doctor.

I went to see my GP, who's known me since I was 10 (and was very shocked to realise that I'm nearly 23!), and is a very nice doctor. I explained what I was applying for, and that I needed this form filling out. I'd completed most of it, it was just the end section I needed doing.

He gave me a very quick medical exam - checked my height, weight, bone structure, teeth (we're not sure why my teeth) etc, then signed it all off. Done and dusted in less than 10 minutes I think!

It was all very quick and simple, and most importantly - free! Don't let them try and make you pay for your medical, it's really not necessary.

Application : Step Three

After my interview I had to get my skates on and get some paperwork together. I needed three references, from people who were not "friends, family or relatives" (I'm still puzzling over the difference between "family" and "relatives"!). For people in education this would be quite simple, get a reference from teachers, or from your part-time job etc. I was stuck with a big problem though. I work full-time, haven't been in education for a few years, and didn't think my team leaders could do my reference! Luckily three of my team leaders agreed to fill out the questionnaire :)

There was a moment of panic though, as my interviewer told me I needed the references in within 7 days of being accepted onto CCUSA. This was incorrect. It was 7 days from my interview.

My interview was on the Sunday, and I found this out on the Wednesday night! Cue major panic! I hassled my team leaders on the Thursday and got it all sorted out in time though. I scanned them onto my online profile and sent them in the post on Friday. Then emailed to make sure they arrived!

Approximately a week and a half after my interview, I was accepted onto CCUSA. Yay!

I now had to pay some more money (I chose the "non-flight" option, which I may live to regret, but based on me being utterly broke at the time, it seemed to make sense). This was my acceptance fee.

After that, my application winged it's way over to America...