Staff > Why Work At Camp Haiastan?
Does this describe you?
“Your love and interest of Armenian culture and being Armenian are strong. You love the outdoors and you are physically active, and your friends say that you’re great with kids.”
2006 Staff Member Leena Varjabedian
Leicester, Mass.
If you relate to this, then Camp Haiastan is the perfect place for you to work this summer. Over a half million college students and high school seniors will take camp jobs this coming summer at approximately 8,500 camps across the U.S. But just think how special it is that Camp Haiastan, a unique Armenian-American camp is seeking staff candidates of Armenian descent (that’s you!) to connect them in a special way with their culture. Now, there’s nothing wrong with spending the summer behind a desk or a cash register, but consider the benefits of working at Camp Haiastan:
- Live, play, and work in the outdoors with other Armenians and other AYF members.
- Teach, promote and preserve our ancient culture and heritage.
- Possibly experience another part of the country.
- Make new friends from all over the U.S. and even other countries.
- Bank more money than you think with few expenses.
- Master real-life problem solving skills.
- Participate in experiences that enhance personal growth.
- Develop and expand your network of Armenian peer relationships and gain friends for life.
- Have a significant and positive influence in the lives of children.
- Become a child’s hero.
All of this, plus you can put your education to work. Camp jobs offer invaluable skill-building, leadership, training, and enrichment opportunities found nowhere else. Regardless of your college major, (but especially if you are in Education, Physical Education/Recreation, Social Services, Sociology, Psychology and Armenian Studies) camp experiences allow you to learn and develop skills that will enhance your job marketability. The benefits go far beyond a paycheck, too. Business executives often note that experience on a camp staff translates into excellent management and personnel skills. College credit can sometimes be obtained from working at camp. Check with your college advisor to see if you qualify.
Who we are looking for.
At Camp Haiastan we have identified a “short list” of abilities that, for us, are essential abilities for camp staff applicants to have in order to be successful working at camp. This means that not only will Camp Haiastan benefit from your success, but equally as important, your summer experience here will be personally fulfilling. So, we’re looking for evidence of these “Four Abilities” in our staff candidates:
1. The ability to put the needs of others ahead of your own. Good camp counselors are all about working together to care for our campers. This means identifying the needs of our campers and of your fellow staff members and attending to these needs without being distracted by your own needs.
2. The ability to do the right thing and take a stand for what is proper and true. Working with our children is a privilege, and Camp Haiastan is a special place where campers benefit from a unique experience of Armenian fellowship, as well as playing and growing in exceptional ways. All of us on staff seek to protect this special relationship that we all have with camp by adhering to certain important rules. This requires a sense of leadership to take a stand for behavior that you believe is appropriate and right, even if it is unpopular to do so among your campers and your peers.
3. The ability to participate successfully in conflict resolution. Whether involving campers or fellow staff members, knowing how to resolve the many inevitable conflicts that arise on a daily basis at camp is crucial.
4. And last, but not the least, the ability and capicity to work hard for long periods of time. Most staff that are new to camp don’t realize how taxing the work really is until they actually experience working here at Camp Haiastan.
Through fun and effective Staff Training sessions we teach our staff many things that will help them be the best that they can be before beginning work at camp. But, we don’t teach the “Four Abilities” above because we need for you to come to us with them.
