The Impact of a Counselor

Camp Chi is a magical place, filled with incredible people. Campers and staff alike return year after year for a summer of Camp Chi Magic. Some of the most important facilitators of that magic are our amazing counselors. From my experience, being a camp counselor is one of the most important and rewarding jobs out there. There are not many roles that allow a person to be a mentor, role model, guardian, and friend, all while providing the most memorable and meaningful experience all at once. The relationship between a camper and their counselor is truly special and can have a genuine life-long impact in the most incredible ways. I’ve been lucky enough to experience this impact as both a camper and counselor and I’m excited to share how huge of an impact camp, my counselor, and my campers have had on my life.
Just over a decade ago, the summer of 2010, I was heading to my fourth summer at Chi as an incoming 7th grader. I had spent the previous three summers enjoying every second of camp, however my Chalutzim summer did not begin how I had expected. I was terribly homesick. Never before had I been homesick at camp, and still to this day I could not tell you why I was that summer. Yet, there I was and that feeling was completely dominating my camp experience. One night towards the end of the first week, the feeling was so strong that I told my counselor I wanted to go home. For anyone who knows me at all, knows that is very out of character. What I did not know was that my counselor was about to provide an experience that I believe completely changed the trajectory of my life. That same night my counselor woke my cabin up after lights out and told us to grab our pillows. Sleepy and confused, I grabbed my pillow and followed them out to the porch. We took the short walk from our village to the commons, which used to house the roller rink and now is a large open asphalt slab towards the back of camp with archery, a couple basketball hoops and a gaga pit. We laid our pillows down and he told us to look up at the sky. I was amazed. The commons, which is just a big open space during the day became the most spectacular place at night. The surrounding trees create a perfect circle with the crystal-clear night sky in the middle. This was my first-time stargazing. He didn’t try to convince me to stay at camp. He didn’t bring up my homesickness. We were all just chilling, looking at the stars and talking about camp. Before we went back to the cabin, he played the song Hallelujah for us on his speaker, we then walked back to the cabin and went to sleep.
The following morning, I woke up with a bandana on my pillow. A bandana my counselor wore on an almost daily basis. He tied it on my head and gave me a fist bump. I was never homesick again.
The commons are my favorite spot in the world. Stargazing my favorite activity, and I wear a bandana every single day of the summer., I still listen to Hallelujah each night before I go to bed. I went home that summer and told my parents I was never going to spend a summer away from Camp Chi.
Five years later I became a counselor. My campers all received bandanas, and they listened to Hallelujah every night before bed. Then I became a Village Leader and made it my goal to take each of the cabins in my village stargazing at least once a session. Almost a decade after that night, I accepted my dream job to work at Camp Chi full-time as the Program Coordinator. My counselor took 30 minutes out of his night and completely changed my life for the better. My biggest hope is that I’ve done half as much for my campers, and they’ll go on to do the same for their campers. That’s Camp Chi Magic. This upcoming summer will be my 15th consecutive spent at the most amazing place in the world and I do not plan on missing one any time soon!
I know that my story is not unique. Experiences like my own have happened on countless occasions over the years at Chi and will continue for many years to come. As we celebrate 100 years of Camp Chi Magic this summer, I am compiling as many of these stories as possible. We will then share them with our camp community, reminisce on the impact camp has had on all of us and inspire the next generation of campers and staff to keep the flame burning for another 100 years. If you would like to share your story of how camp or a special staff member has positively impacted your life, please email me at jlondon@jccchicago.org.
Jared London, known as J-Lo at camp, was a SIT of 2014, and is excited for his 15th summer at Camp Chi. A member of the Full-Time Staff, J-Lo is the Program Coordinator, where he is responsible for the planning and implementation of camp-wide programs and teen engagement, which includes him serving as the Noar Village Leader and running the Chi Town Connection (CTC) youth group.