Marcus had just landed a new job as a camp counsellor at a summer camp in Los Angeles. It was a 3 month placement to look after kids during the summer by doing activities such as swimming, climbing, putting on shows, sitting around campfires…basically getting paid to have fun!

He´d flown to LA by himself which was quite nerve-wracking as he hadn´t been abroad by himself before. He´d said goodbye to his family and friends in Sweden with mixed feelings as he was worried about being homesick whilst looking forward to his summer job. But the excitement of his upcoming summer trip did well to counteract the nerves.

He had decided to apply to the summer camp as part of a placement during his university course to widen his horizons, gain some experience and to have something different to add to his CV. The only stipulations that the camp had when he applied were to be over 18, be full of enthusiasm and able to take on challenges, and also to have a sufficient competency level in English to be able to interact with the kids as well as the camp staff without any difficulties. Marcus had studied the English language throughout school, but decided to keep up the standards with some extra English courses in Los Angeles while he was there. The tutor actually visited him at the camp to teach him during his free time which surprised him but that helped him immensely by not taking up too much of his time with travelling to and from lessons. The extra tuition really helped him, especially when confronted with the diverse conversations from the kids which he hadn´t expected to be so in-depth and ‘grown up’.

On arrival at the camp, he´d had a quick tour of the grounds and went through the itinerary for the first week, before meeting his fellow camp counsellors. He was thrilled to receive such a warm reception from everyone and any nerves quickly vanished. This was going to be a great summer!