In most situations, individuals are best served by Oswegatchie for 4 summers. In that time frame, we can give them good opportunities as a counselor and some vertical promotion into certain specialties like equine director, ropes specialist, or water safety instructor.
After 4 summers, most staff is encouraged to experience new jobs at other facilities. It’s entirely in their best interests. Speaking from personal experience, there is tremendous culture shock when you start work elsewhere. That adjustment is a powerful lesson and crucial in making staff better people and a part of our alumni family.
While staff is here with us and they prove they can handle the basics, we start to watch the staff for 2 things: Initiative and how they handle Opportunity! It takes very little opportunity to test the initiative of almost anyone. When you have a chance to take on a special task, whether it be for an entire summer or for day, how you use it speaks volume. If you give it the right stuff and its shows, you will be rewarded, It maybe the opportunity that gave you the chance, but its your initiative that gives you the opportunities of the future. The rest is up to you.
In the 4 years you may have at camp, it’s crucial to seize opportunities and make the most of them. It’s what determines who gets more opportunities and your own legacy as time moves on.