First of all you fill in an extremely extensive online application form, and once you are happy with that you are asked to choose an interviewer in you local area. I go to University in Manchester and there were 3 interviewers in Manchester so this was fairly easy for me. This is where you are asked for your first deposit, of £60. Once you have done that you communicate with your interviewer via email to arrange a convenient time for an interview, usually in the evening, and it is up to you to make your way to the interviewer's house. I was given a time within the week, so it was a quick process.
The interview itself was fairly easy, they basically go through checking what is on your form, and asking you questions about why you applied, the usual stuff. And then some questions which may make you think a bit such as 'what would you do with a group of 20 kids in a tiny room because its raining outside?' that sort of stuff. It lasted for about an hour, and my woman was very friendly, and at times it just felt like an informal chat.

The visa costs about £65, depending on exchange rate, and is paid to the American Embassy, and is nothing to do with Camp America. They do however book your appointment for you and deal with that aspect, which is one less thing to worry about, and it also means you will be in the Embassy (for a long time!!) with lots of other Camp America (and CCUSA, BUNAC etc) participants, which is good for meeting people to talk to and calm your nerves a bit!

In Camp America's defence, they do a very thorough job, assisting you with anything and everything along the way. You get a flight to New York, a night in the Camp America Hotel and transport to NY in order to get the bus/train/plane to your camp. And they organise your flight home at the end of the summer, and if you choose a specific date, this is 'free' too. So its not an all bad deal.

So, I was all set, I was flying out on the 12th June, I had just finished my first year at University, I had said an emotional goodbye to my girlfriend, and I was off to America for the Summer of my life..!

Arriving at the nearest town to the Camp we were met by someone from the camp and driven there. Because of a slight mix up with the dates, we were arriving a day later than most of the other International counsellors, which did make things a bit difficult in terms of initial bonding. The camp was in an amazing setting, on a 6 mile, clear lake in the Airdronak (spelling?!) Mountains, in the middle of nowhere, which was a mixed blessing really. I was fairly exhausted after a whole day travelling and after a quick look around the camp and dinner, I went to bed, slightly nervous about my surroundings and the loud characters around me.

After a few days I was not happy in my new camp. With wake up at 7, although more like 5am with the birds and other creatures, usually crawling across the floor. And work starting at 8, through to 1230 with only a 15 minute break. And then back on it from 115 until 430. This really was slave labour. I wasn't necessarily complaining about the hard work, it was just the mundane tasks, I was put on 'painting crew' for 4 whole days. I think anyone would get depressed painting walls and steps the same colours of brown and green for 4 days at a time.

Pictures of Camp America

The lake

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I thought I was alone in thinking this, and to be honest wanting to go home, and it was a very lonely experience. I was missing home, even though I had never felt like that when going away to University on my own, I missed my girlfriend, even though I was not going to see her even if I did go home (she lives in Asia) and I was not happy.
I was speaking with another guy, from Manchester, and we both discovered that we weren't alone in feeling unhappy, isolated from the rest of the international counsellors through no real fault of our own, and ready to go home at this early stage. And we also found two of the other English girls who were also unhappy (we were all the first year English counsellors) We spent many hours down at the lake late at night (getting bitten to death by mosquito's!) talking about what we should do, how we felt it was so different from what we expected. Three of us came to the decision that we were going to go and talk to the camp director about leaving.

The morning we went to the Camp Director was one of the hardest of my life. We went one after another, probably not a good idea in hindsight! But he was very sympathetic towards us, told us it was natural, to go and think about it and come see him later. We had made up our minds however, and when we went to him later that evening to tell us we hadn't changed our minds, his position and tone of voice changed. he recognised he had made a mistake employing so many people who already knew each other, but once he knew we were going, we were going, and the very next morning.

In terms of Camp America, they are very helpful and professional throughout the whole process, but you do pay for that. I think I paid a lot more than friends doing the scheme through BUNAC and CCUSA, and getting less pocket money at the end, but you end up in the same places in the end. The guy from Manchester I met out there and came back with was getting nearly $800 at the end through BUNAC, and was doing the same job as me. This didn't seem fair.
In a way I thought this experience would change me, I was a fairly reserved and sometimes shy person, and I thought it would bring me out of my shell a bit. But most of the people there, at least on my camp, were already supremely confident, and indeed arrogant, which made someone like me even more reserved and quiet, which undoubtedly contributed to me not enjoying it. That is one warning I would have, I feel you have to have a lot of confidence within yourself already, and not expect that doing this to bring it out in you and change you.