Hi, I'm Elyse Watson, a fisheries and wildlife major, in the School of Natural Resources.

If someone overheard me talking about my job this summer, they'd hear me talking about working with Blue Jay, Bark and Bobcat. After hearing this they'd either be thinking 'what did that girl do this summer?' or 'that girl spent one too many days in the sun”. In all fairness it would sound rather odd, until they realized that I spent my summer working as a camp counselor at Wilderness Nature Camp in Lincoln, NE.

The whole point of having an internship is to help decided what field of work you want to go into once you graduate, and that's exactly what working at camp did for me.

Before my internship I was trying to decide how I wanted to use my Fisheries and Wildlife degree. Should I go into research, damage management, teach high school science? Now I know that the right path for me is public outreach and outdoor education.

Working at an outdoor camp is simply just fun, as long as you're going in wanting to have fun. Not only do you get to spend all your time outdoors and get paid for it, but you also get to spread your love of the outdoors with a new generation and watch as they start to develop that same appreciation for nature that you do.

Now it's not always fun and games (even if in the job description it specifically states that you have to be able to have fun and play games). Not only do you have to be responsible for yourself, but you also have a group of children that you need to be looking after. By working at a camp you develop skills in team work, education, time management and patents. If you decide to take an internship at a camp, you might find out that it's not the job for you, but you pick up valuable skills that can be used in any job field.

When working at a camp, you always put the campers' needs ahead of your own. If you're having a bad day, tough luck, because for some of these kids this is the highlight of their summer and you have to do your best to make sure they're safe and having fun. If you're not around kids often it's easy to forget how smart they are as well as how easily they can pick up on your moods. If you don't know how to leave your baggage at the door, then being a camp counselor is not the job for you.