It is no secret that our amazing staff are what set us apart. They are the reason kids beg to come back year after year. They are even the reason other staff return for another season.
But what may come as a surprise to you is that working at Calleva will do much more than fill your summers. Working at Calleva offers hard and soft skills that can take you wherever you want to go.
We asked some of our previous staff to share the impact Calleva had on them as people, on their careers and on the places they’ve gone since they worked here at Calleva. More Places You’ll Go posts here.
The following is from ‘Wigi’ William Young ⎯ Instructor of many things based out of Rileys. He was Hired in 2000 and worked for 17 years. He married Emilia Meyer who was also hired 2000 and worked for 17 years. She was also an Instructor of many things.
It is hard to pick a specific stand out memory from my time at Calleva, but two memories stand out among the rest. The first was a week of rafting when I was a JC with Big Tic and Michael Brown. Besides epic rafting, we constructed a cardboard castle on the bus ride complete with kings, queens, and knights!
Another memory was a cold, wet overnight on a school program. I don’t remember the location, but it was pouring rain and we ran around the campground trying to set up tents while keeping the interior dry. A few teachers slept in the van and we slept in the trailer still attached to the van. Every time a teacher moved, trailer would lurch up and down waking us up. Needless to say, we survived on Mountain Dew!
I am now working as a charge nurse for one of the busiest Emergency Departments in the country. Which, is not that different from head facilitating a large program. The cognitive process of managing multiple rafts flipping on Maryland Chute is not that different from managing five critical patients arriving by ambulance after a motor vehicle crash.
Calleva taught me to be calm during chaotic situations. Also how to continuously assess and manage potentially risky, dynamic situations. Both of these skills have served me well as a charge nurse.
What I love most about Calleva, are the friendships I developed. I met my wife at Calleva and we now live in Colorado with our own small enclave of Calleva alumni. Over the years we have had our own local Calleva Thanksgivings and Christmas parties.
At our wedding, our Calleva friends serenaded us with a song that would have won a Friday song contest at camp. But, most of all, the best memory I have at Calleva was seeing our son, Gus, attending Calleva during his first week of summer camp ever! He LOVED every minute and can now sing the Calleva song.
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