I’ve written about former campers and where they are now, whether it is up at Shamu stadium as a trainer or working with sea lions or in the Florida Keys on a lobster boat, but this story may be the best yet. A few weeks ago, one of SeaWorld San Antonio’s first campers brought her own family back to camp. Julie was a part of our first day camp group in 1992 and part of the first resident camp in 1994. She then came back as a camp counselor in 1996 & 1997, the years that I was a camper.

I've posted before about our great camp staff and our intensive staff training, but a question I find myself answering a lot is, “What do we look for in a camp counselor?” Since the beginning of January, the resident camp supervisor, Brittany, and I have been interviewing a long list of applicants to join our teams this summer. Last I checked the list was at well over a hundred.

So what do we look for? Two key ingredients:

First, a love for working with children.

Lise with her favorite marine mammal, Shamu!

It's been a great summer at Adventure Camp. Campers have enjoyed the animals and shows and the rides, but I think the one thing that has made it so good is the staff.