Instead of getting homesick, 23-year-old Calgarian Eric Gibbs gets campsick.
The time he spends as a leader at summer camp is always the highlight of his year.
“You’re outside, most camps are on a beautiful lake, and it’s a safe, open, loving environment,” Gibbs said.
“The motto is: summer camp is worth the student loans. You’re not making good money but it’s worth it because of the memories you make. Also keep in mind that you’re at camp, so you can’t spend money, so often I save just as much money in the summer as some of my friends who work in the city.”
Gibbs has gone to summer camp ever since he was young and now works as a camp leader at Camp Kasota and Camp Tamarack. He said that he has made some of his best friends at camp because everyone is open and accepting of each other.
“If someone is a big introvert, they come to camp and open up,” he said. “When kids come to camp, everybody has a new start. I met my friend Alan at the first camp I ever attended. We went to camp together every summer and then we worked together. I was a groomsmen at his wedding — and he met his wife at camp, too.”
Gibbs stresses that you have to love kids to love summer camp, and every round there is a child that makes a big impression on him.
“We had this one kid who wouldn’t do anything without his mom at his side,” he said.
“He went to summer camp, and now he’s Mr. Independent.”
