The other employees who work at CTY are very fun and smart people. Most people get the chance to use their academic and personal interests as activities for the program. The largest departments are academic and residential (I worked in administrative). Anyone can really dip their toe into responsibilities/activities of another department if they wish.
As part of the administrative staff and specifically an RPA, I loved being able to interact so much with people from all the departments pretty regularly. The social environment is very rich and dynamic, which is the most rewarding/fun aspect of working with CTY.
Additionally, housing and food is completely covered for by CTY so you don't have to worry about either of those basic necessities and for me personally having a regulated schedule (set meal times) was very good for me to be around others and have a consistent routine.
What I wish was different
I wish the hours had been different (and my feedback to my boss reflects this). My job is primarily as an office assistant. The main duties include things such as answering and directing calls to the appropriate departments, ordering / buying supplies for each department, picking up and sorting mail, and assisting students and parents. There are usually 5 total people who are office assistants (RPAs). After the busiest periods (which are opening, intersession, and closing), the job can be a bit slow.
I brought this concern to my supervisor, saying that our normal staggered 8-hour shifts (8am-4pm, 10am-6pm x 2 people, 1-9pm, 4-11 pm) were too long, especially during the 1-4pm time period when there are 4 people in the office not doing anything. I suggested 5-6 hour shifts where people were on call for the remaining 2-3 hours if it ever got busy. All of my coworkers agreed that this would have been a better model to test, but the suggestion was not adopted by our supervisors.
So, I wish the program implemented working hours more suited towards having the most productive and efficient work hours.
Advice
This job can be quite intense during the busy periods. Administrative staff come 1 whole week before students arrive to set up basically the whole camp. Then as one session of 500+ students leaves, another one comes in one weekend in a busy period called intersession. So my advice would be to really prepare yourself for those times, get lots of rest, take breaks when needed, ask for help, offer help, and don't beat yourself up or your coworkers up if there are mistakes made since a lot is happening at those times.
I would also encourage people to talk to a lot of people, the staff have diverse academic and professional backgrounds and are generally really interesting people. There are a lot of staff activities separate from the summer program that were highlights of my summer.
Finally, keep an open mind about how to go about things. I've worked for this camp for two summers and find I am always learning different ways to approach problems and learn new, more efficient solutions or ideas from my coworkers.
