Student experience

If you want to do something a bit different in the summer break you could apply for a cultural exchange programme to a camp in America. Camp America is an opportunity to live and work either with children or 'behind the scenes' as support staff on an American Summer Camp.

The Camp America programme is designed to give you the best of both worlds; work and play. Following your placement you'll have up to two months to explore the USA and enjoy all the fun, excitement and adventure there is to discover there.

Whatever your skills or special talents, there's a place for you to use them on summer camp! There a range of different positions available including support staff, counsellors (people who help with the kids and get involved with their activities day to day), and advanced skills counsellors, who are people that lead on activities who have experience and expertise, often in sports and outdoor activities as well as crafts.

There are various types of camps available which specialise in different areas, some privately run and some agency run. Camp attendees are usually children from six to seventeen years old from across America, they can be from underprivileged backgrounds, have special needs and there are also faith camps and Girl Guide camps.

You can have a lot of new experiences and develop your skills on working foreign exchanges and at Bucks we know lots of students who have successfully taken part in this scheme.

Krzysztof Dargiewicz said, “I went to America a couple of times with Camp America, which I totally recommend – it’s a great student work experience!”

If you are interested in taking part in Camp America, you can see their website campamerica.co.uk for lots more information, advice and application forms.