Why Summer Camp Is the Best Career Move for College Students: Leadership Range and Antifragile Skills

After reading one of my posts, a colleague asked, “So, do you just write about whatever you are reading?” My answer: sort of. It doesn't happen all the time, but often enough there is a collision between a book and my experience, and I feel like writing about it. The book now is Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World by David Epstein. He argues that generalists, people who develop range through diverse experiences, thrive in a wicked world (wicked being unpredictable, ever-changing, unclear, misleading). It's a well-researched and engaging book, and as a person who leans generalist, I found it reassuring that I might not be a hopeless wanderer after all.

The collision. I work at a summer camp, and we recently lost another fantastic counselor to the college internship, an unsettling trend. The pressure on young people to take the “next step” toward a successful career is rising. For many, working at a summer camp has become the wrong step, at least not the best one. If your goal is to have a higher-paying job out of college, you have a point. Data do seem to favor the internship on that score (though, I bet there are some other variables we aren't controlling for that explain those outcomes). 

However, Epstein also sites a 2017 study published by four economists that found “people who got narrow, career-focused education were more likely to be employed right out of school and earned more right away, but over time both advantages evaporated; decades later, they had spent less overall time in the labor market and had lower lifetime earnings than workers who received general educations.” Adam Grant agrees that “generalists excel over time” sharing a 2025 Science article, “Recent discoveries on the acquisition of the highest levels of human performance,” which concluded, “Across domains, world-class performers, compared with peers performing just below this level, engaged in more multidisciplinary practice and showed more gradual performance progress through their early years.”

I believe the majority of our discontent—our envy, contempt, greed, longing, anxiety, hostility—comes from our conviction that we are (or should be) more than who we are. Somewhere along the way, we are convinced that we have not arrived at our destination, that there are grander things in store for us, more that we are destined to achieve. We forget that people on their death beds wish they hadn't worked their life away, too busy to be present, too consumed by expectations that took precedence over love and happiness and relationships. It's so easy to fool ourselves into thinking, later, there will be time.

Epstein argues that young people, instead of specializing early, should diversify their experiences as they try to find “match quality,” which he says is more likely to happen later in life. One could use that reasoning to justify seeking a variety of internship experiences. I can get on board with that. However, the rationale I hear most often is along the lines of needing a head start or a foot in the door to avoid falling behind on a specific track. This logic runs out of runway. While it increases your chances of the higher paying job after college, it neglects a basic, inevitable truth: who you are now is different from who you will be after college, and who you will be then is different from who you will be 5 years later, and so on and so forth, should you live long and prosper.

Obviously, I think young people should choose the camp counselor job before the college internship (and if you search “skip the internship, go to summer camp,” you’ll see I’m not alone). I'm biased, but hear me out. Epstein proposes that “you don't commit to anything in the future, but just look at the options available now, and choose those that give you the most promising range of options afterward.” Working as a camp counselor offers tremendous range, especially when it comes to leadership and management. With all due respect (love that loaded phrase) to internships, here's why I recommend camp counseling instead:

1. Life happens now

When working with kids, this couldn't be more true. Lots of people feel guilty about doing what they enjoy, even more so if it gets in the way of “growing up.” If you enjoy the work of a camp counselor and you have the energy to do it, now is the time. You won't have that same energy as you age, and you have the rest of your life to frolic with spreadsheets and cubicles and emails and all the other perks of a “real job.” 

And keep in mind, Epstein notes, “Big innovation most often happens when an outsider who may be far away from the surface of the problem reframes the problem in a way that unlocks the solution.” What seems off-track now may end up being the key to success—and camp counselors spend all day problem-solving.

2. It's the healthy choice

As a camp counselor, you spend the summer outside, in nature, running around, laughing, playing, unplugged. In essence, you get to be a kid, and you are paid to do it with people you love like family. Talk about the ultimate reset before diving into another academic year or even your first full-time job. 

Does the internship give you this gift? Years from now, maybe with kids of your own, will you daydream of the beloved internship that you posted about on LinkedIn?

3. The network is broader

Not only will you develop range in your leadership, but you will expand the range of your network. It's very likely that someone working at the camp has a connection in the area of the internship you are considering, and it is likely that connection also went to camp. If you prove to be a great camp counselor, this connection is gold. 

The internship network will be narrower, as well as the skills you develop.

4. You will learn antifragile skills

Being antifragile (Nassim Nicholas Taleb coined the term in his book Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder) is a step beyond resilience. It isn't just about enduring through challenges, but growing because of them. Antifragile people don't break under pressure or uncertainty. They thrive. Becoming harder can be useful in difficult circumstances. Becoming stronger and more skillful is far more functional. Building human muscle with heavy resistance is a good representation of antifragility. Though the stress of the weight initially damages the muscle fibers, they repair and adapt, becoming bigger and stronger than before.

What antifragile skills do camp counselors build? They learn how to care for others under variable conditions and how to maintain safety by dealing with risk. They adapt to unpredictable problems. They manage different conflicts with different strategies at different times. They lead through crises, engage small and large groups, inspire a child to face his fears and be himself. The list is endless—and wonderfully general.

5. You will learn to lead

If you run a cabin of campers, you are learning to lead a team and build a culture. If you run a division of campers and other counselors, you are the mayor of a small town, a CEO if that sounds better on the resume. There are few roles where you can have so much responsibility at such a young age. 

We learn the most through experience, in practice rather than theory (as Epstein says repeatedly), and the leadership experience you get as a camp counselor, particularly if it includes the management of larger groups, far exceeds that of the intern.

6. Without camp counselors, there are no camps for kids

Let's face it. It's not all about you (I hope you agree). Kids need camps, especially boys (I will restrain myself from going further on that point in this post). Scott Galloway agrees in Notes on Being a Man, describing summer camps as necessary “third spaces” (a social environment separate from home and work/school) for kids to connect and mature. And Jonathan Haidt, author of The Anxious Generation, says, “Summer camp is the best way for a child to detox from smartphones and social media. All the activities and camaraderie are a substitute for the drama of virtual life, so not just a denial of something, but a substitution with something healthier.”

If there are no camp counselors, there are no camps. No camps means fewer spaces for kids to play outside and discover who they are. Fewer communities where they belong. Fewer places where they learn to be independent and responsible, making choices and practicing self-discipline. Fewer opportunities to receive mentorship from a role model they can relate to. Fewer doors opened to new experiences and new people. Fewer moments to fail, try again, find success, and gain confidence. If I needed to filibuster something in a pinch, I'd talk about the value of summer camps.

The important point I want to emphasize here is that I hope young people take impact into consideration when weighing the value of working at a summer camp compared to landing an internship. The kids you work with will remember you forever, and there is no way to quantify the ripple effects of the good you are doing. It is limitless.

General closing thoughts on deciding what to do with your life and career

With all that said, I do recognize that not everyone has the opportunity, interest, or match quality to work as a camp counselor. There’s also a financial privilege variable. Some people may need to make more money than a camp salary can offer. That’s legit. And for those young adults who want to test the waters by trying out various internships—bonus points for those that have a positive impact on the welfare of others—go for it. 

Internships aside, there are infinite experiences to choose from that don't include camp counselor, and any one of them may very well be the right choice. I'm just a camp guy defending the honor of a position with diminishing status. Pity me. Ultimately, the choice is yours. Whatever you decide as a young person and aspiring leader, I encourage you to keep the following thoughts in mind.

Epstein says, “It is difficult to accept that the best learning road is slow, and that doing poorly now is essential for better performance later.” Finding a career with high match quality takes time, and match changes as we grow. For example, if you threw me back into a cabin of 10 kids as their counselor, it wouldn't be the same experience, and certainly not the optimal situation for anyone involved. I can only imagine their wide-eyed horror, and my monotoned enthusiasm falling flat with the dust between the floor boards. There's a younger, more relatable, more energetic person for the job, and it's OK that I'm not that person anymore.

Most people, even if they don't want to admit it, even if they don't like it, know the road to high performance is slow. It's the “doing poorly” part that really freaks us out. Waiting makes people antsy. Failing, just the prospect of it, terrifies people enough that they don't even try (initially, I wanted to say makes them quit, but sometimes one of the best things we can do is quit and move on). 

When we aren’t put in situations where we are likely to hear tough feedback, we miss precisely what we need to hear to increase our range and perform at our best. Here’s a thought-provoking and unreserved white paper on how this applies to college career services helping students with low social capital.

I remember a high school classmate explaining how he was taking an easier science offering despite qualifying for a popular physics course with one of the school's best teachers. His rationale was that he would definitely get an A in the unchallenging class, which would be better for his GPA, which would be better for his college prospects. He had it all mapped out. I don't know the degree to which that decision impacted his future, but I took that physics class.

It was hard. I stayed after school a lot to do practice problems. There were times that I did poorly. There was maybe one other class in my high school career that demanded more from me. To this day, I still draw from that experience—the reasoning skills, the importance of practice and retrieval, the wonder of solving problems, the value of a strong relationship with a teacher who also looked like a mad scientist—and I have no clue what my grade was. My guess is no one cares.

I said I don't know how things worked out for that guy who took the easy science class, so naturally I did a quick search, and he has letters next to his name that suggest he is doing great. Good to hear. Was I hoping he was involved in a massive scandal or bankrupt to prove my point? Of course not. I still maintain my argument. In my case, I may not have gotten the best grade, but I experienced the most growth. 

And I have this to add about his plans, and my plans, and everyone's plans. In Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life, Anne Lamott says, “If you want to make God laugh, tell her your plans.” I love this line. It's so dark. Our plans are just plans, irrelevant to reality. I suggest we invest in our present before our plans.

I also believe there is more to be gained from vigorous observation than overplanning. I'll turn to Lamott again (exercising range, nice), as what she says about writing plot can teach us about living life:

In lieu of a plot you may find that you have a sort of temporary destination, perhaps a scene that you envision is the climax. So you write toward this scene, but when you get there, or close, you see that because of all you've learned about your characters along the way, it no longer works. The scene may have triggered the confidence that got you to work on your piece, but now it does not make the final cut.

This is a reasonable and effective way to approach decisions about your future. Life does not follow a script. It unfolds, and we do not know what comes next. Such is the nature of good stories.

With the specifics behind us, and for the readers who skipped straight to the end, I come now to my grand, generalist crescendo. Range is a wonderful thing, and every person is capable of doing something wonderful. Like a kid at a summer camp, we should do something that cultivates a sense of wonder, for ourselves and others. 

We need not be afraid of taking the slow road, for time is excruciatingly short. Rushing to achieve match quality will only lower our odds of discovering it, and what one does now, especially what one does poorly now, is the real learning that will get us to wherever we are going. Godspeed.