Selina Hogan from County Limerick has worked on summer camps for the last six years. This is her second year as Centre Manager with Oscars Juniors. We caught up with her in early July to find out a little more about her.
Do you like your work?
I really do love it. I started as an activity leader while I was in college. I just did it as a summer job and I fell in love with it and as I got more experience I got moved to more responsible positions. I love the craziness of it and how busy it is. I think I work better when I’m under a bit of pressure and there can be a lot to do.
What’s the best part of the job?
I’m quite an international person and I get to work with lots of different nationalities. You learn so much from people in this job and that keeps bringing me back.
The children are great. Some of them might be here for three to four weeks and you build such great relationships with them that it’s very rewarding.
(Selina describes her reasons for loving the job)
What’s your typical day like?
I get up usually at around 6.30am and have breakfast and make sure everyone is OK. I stay on campus here with the campers so I’m always here if they need me. I come straight to the office then and we have group leader meetings. I make sure everything is going smoothly in the morning and check everything is ready for their activities in the afternoon. I go to the canteen to have lunch with everyone and see everyone is catered for and looked after. In the afternoon, the campers are usually off on trips or doing sports on campus so that gives me a chance to get things ready for the next day and make sure everything is booked and ready to go.
Later on, I like to go along to the activities that the students do in the evenings because I like spending time with them and this is when you get to know them better. When they’re gone to bed I do a bit of nighttime supervision just to make sure everyone is OK and then I\’m off to bed. It’s busy but, as I said, I love it.
\”I stay on campus here with the campers so I’m always here if they need me.\”
In a nutshell, what is your role?
I make sure everyone is doing their jobs properly and I plan. I plan everything.
When you are not working for Oscars during the summer, what do you do?
I lived in Dubai for a few years and worked as a teacher there. After that I moved to Spain and I’ve been living in Spain there for the last two years working as a teacher. I just finished my Master’s Degree in Education so I’m moving to China at the end of the summer to become a primary school teacher over there. But I’m already looking forward to coming back here next year and working with Oscars.