It’s difficult to know if I should place my experience as a summer camp counsellor on my CV/resume. There must be similar experiences I can draw upon to make my application stand out.
I remember one year at camp waking up in the dormitory to the sound of panicked whispering. It was before reveille, no one was supposed to be out of their bunks, but the students – the campers – in my care were up to something. I’d been waiting for this, but thought they’d finally given up. Feigning sleep, I listened as they kept telling each other to be quiet.
I thought back to random comments earlier in the week about a practical joke. Something to do with a bucket of water. Even then I was developing the ears of a future teacher. I already had the psychic sense of a fellow practical joker. Spilling a bucket of water on someone looks easy on TV, but is difficult to execute. And I’d been checking the roof, the attic, the surrounds of the dormitory each night as a preventative measure. Time to stop pretending.
“He’s waking up!” one of them shouted. No pretence of surprise any longer. “Quick! Pull the rope!”
The co-conspirators recognised they had mere seconds left to play their prank. I opened my eyes to see one of them tugging on a rope, then watched it catch on a large wardrobe, bringing it down with a crash. I sat up on my bunk and looked at them. They were in shock. Not only had their plan failed, but now they were in trouble.
What happened after that? I can’t remember. But I do recognise how little of this is suitable for a job application.