This is Emma Hampton’s 4^th year working as a camp counselor at Variety’s Adventure Camp. Not only does Emma look forward to meeting new campers and getting to know their unique personalities, she also loves the amount of new experiences she is able to introduce kids to during the week!

Emma’s favorite camp memory is from last month, when one of the campers excitedly grabbed a shark out of the stingray petting tank at the St. Louis Aquarium.

This year, Emma has taken on the role of Sports Specialist at Adventure Camp. While every day is different for Emma, she has a blast leading campers in games and activities. She shares, “Each group comes to me for about 30 minutes and I lead them in activities like kickball, parachute games, relay races, freeze dance, etc. I also help out in the pool, on the ice rink, or at other activities when I don’t have a sports group!”

Being a camp counselor has had a deep impact on 20 year old Emma’s life, “Through camp I have met and learned about such a wide variety of people. This has increased my awareness of others and curiosity about the lives of people who are different from me.”

Since Emma’s first experience at camp in 2019, she discovered her passion for working with people with disabilities and her life was forever changed. She is now pursuing a degree in special education!

The number one motivation for Emma as an Adventure Camp counselor is seeing the smiles on campers’ faces every day and getting to experience the joy that they have for camp.