A few days ago, we shared with you the story of Melissa, a camper and then counsellor at Centauri, who discovered a love of Stage Combat while at camp, and went from knowing nothing about it to certifying as an Actor-Combatant. She now hopes to make the art of stage combat her career.

Well, Melissa was by no means alone in finding her career path at camp.

Emily E. contacted us a couple of days ago with her story. Emily has been a camper, a counsellor and a mentor-counsellor at Centauri Arts Camp for a grand total of twelve years! When she joined us on staff, she was majoring in Music at university and worked at first as an accompanist in our Musical Theatre Camp. She saw Music as her future. But then, as she took on new responsibilities at camp and learned more about who she truly was and what made her happy, this focus shifted. I’ll let Emily pick up her story from here…

“Because of my years at Centauri Arts Camp, I decided to switch my career path a year and a half ago to early childhood education. Through my experiences planning activities, working with other teaching enthusiasts and supporting younger campers, I discovered that this was the right career path for me.  Centauri taught me how to teach in a creative and fun way, a way that is enjoyable not just for the students but the teacher as well. What campers might not realize is that because of the amount of work staff put into programming, if a program goes well then the staff end up having just as much fun as the campers!

All of this I have applied to my new position as an teacher assistant in a preschool classroom. I try to teach using hands on activities like paper-mache volcanoes and baking soda + vinegar eruptions. But I don’t just sit aside and let the kids do all the activities on their own! When I join in, the kids become twice as excited about learning, and this is something I started learning many years ago when I joined the staff at Centauri.”

In the nurturing, accepting environment of camp, all of us find the time to discover who we really are, and what matters to us. This is true of campers, of course… but reading Emily’s email, I was reminded that exceptional camp staff  – who are open to new experiences, and eager to grow – can undergo the same sense of self discovery, as well.

Emily has been at Centauri Arts Camp for 12 years and has been a
staff member since 2008.
www.centauriartscamp.com