The Best First Job in America Pays $200 a Week

Why camp counselors are learning skills that Harvard Business School can't teach.

Every summer, thousands of college students face a choice. On one side: internships at banks, consulting firms, and tech companies. Air conditioning. Business cards. A line on the resume that looks impressive.

On the other side: a summer camp. Tie-dye shirts. Bug spray. Singing songs about moose. A paycheck that barely covers textbooks.

From the outside, the choice seems obvious. The internship wins every time.

I'm here to tell you that the outside view is wrong.

The camp counselor job is the best first job in America. Not despite the low pay and long hours, but because of what those conditions force you to learn.

The Skills That Actually Matter

Julia was a sophomore in college during her second summer on staff. She was an Economics major, and she was worried.

Her friends were taking internships in the city. They were wearing suits. They were building their LinkedIn profiles. They were networking.

Julia was wearing tie-dye. She was wiping tables. She was teaching nine-year-olds how to make friendship bracelets.

She lay in her bunk at night, staring at the ceiling, wondering if she was making a mistake. Was she wasting her time? Would this look silly on a resume?

Then came the thunderstorm.

Julia was leading a canoe trip on the lake. Twelve campers, six boats, half a mile from shore. The sky turned green. The wind picked up. Thunder cracked like a cannon.

One girl started screaming. A canoe tipped over. Two boys were in the water, thrashing in their life jackets.

This was the moment that changed everything.

Julia didn't freeze. Her training kicked in. She paddled to the tipped canoe. She spoke in a voice that was loud, calm, and completely steady. She got the boys out of the water. She organized the boats into a raft so they wouldn't drift apart.

And then, to keep twelve terrified children calm while they waited for rescue, she started singing. She sang "The Princess Pat" at the top of her lungs while hail hit her face. She made the hand motions. She looked them in the eye and smiled.

The kids sang with her. They focused on the rhythm instead of the lightning.

Thirty minutes later, everyone was safe on shore. Wet, shivering, but calm.

That night, Julia realized something important. Her friends at the bank were fetching coffee. They were formatting spreadsheets. They were sitting in air conditioning.

She had just managed a life-or-death crisis with zero resources. She had managed the emotions of a dozen people under extreme pressure.

She wasn't a babysitter. She was a crisis manager. A stakeholder communicator. A leader.

The Future Belongs to the Soft Skills

Here's what the job market is teaching us: the "hard" skills are becoming commodities. AI can write code. AI can analyze data. AI can pass the bar exam.

But AI cannot paddle a canoe.

AI cannot read the tension in a room and know exactly when to crack a joke. It cannot negotiate peace between two teammates who aren't speaking to each other. It cannot mentor a struggling colleague through a crisis of confidence.

The camp counselor spends eight weeks practicing the most valuable skills in the modern economy. Emotional regulation. Conflict resolution. The ability to project calm when everything is falling apart.

These aren't "soft" skills. They're the skills that separate good managers from great ones. They're the skills that make teams function and organizations thrive.

The $200-a-Week MBA

Camp counselors work sixteen-hour days in high-stress, low-sleep environments. They manage their own emotions while simultaneously managing the emotions of children. They practice radical accountability because when a counselor fails, a child gets hurt.

This is harder than any internship. And that's exactly why it matters.

The next time someone asks why you spent your summer at camp instead of a "real job," you can tell them the truth: you were getting an education that no business school can provide.

You were learning to lead under pressure. You were learning to connect with people who are nothing like you. You were learning that the fire doesn't light itself.

And you were doing it for $200 a week, which might be the best return on investment in America.

About the Author

Matt Kaufman has spent 40 years in summer camp as a camper, counselor, and director, studying what makes people belong, grow, and thrive. He writes about intentional community, leadership, and the intersection of technology and human connection.

Connect with Matt:

• Instagram: @mattlovescamp

• LinkedIn: Matt Kaufman

• Website: ilove.camp

Books by Matt Kaufman:

• The Campfire Effect: How to Engineer Belonging in a Disconnected World (February 2026)

• The Summer Camp MBA: 50 Leadership Lessons from Camp to Career