Inside The Mind Of Kristen Farmer

“I think that working with young people is something that has its challenges and requires patience, but it also is the most rewarding kind of work that there is out there. It is also some of the most important work.”

–Kristen Farmer

Most Millennials are job hopping every 2-3 years. Kristen Farmer, however, has been with The Fresh Air Fund since 2005 and doesn’t plan on leaving anytime soon. Case closed. The Fresh Air Fund must be a cool place to work.

If you’re a college-aged student looking for a summer job and you love to work with children then this might be the place for you. (Hint: That means they’re hiring.)

Every summer, 3000 inner city children head off to one of five Fresh Air camps at the 2,300 acre Sharpe Reservation in up-state New York. During the year an additional 10,000 students will visit to learn about the environment.

Kristen Farmer, the Tutoring and High School Placement Coordinator during the year, will be there again this summer as the assistant director. “I believe so much in what we do”, she exclaims.

Her belief was clearly evident during our conversation. Kristen believes in service and has a serious passion for working with young people.

She began her career at Fresh Air as the Journalism Teacher—one of the counselor positions—for the career awareness camp called Camp Mariah.

Prior to Fresh Air, she has been a tutor, a pre-kindergarten teacher, a substitute teacher, an intern with the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and a Health Education Volunteer with the Peace Corps—all before the age of 25.

Let’s find out what else is going on inside The Millennial Mind of Kristen Farmer.

FROM PITCHING A TENT TO MAKING RESUMES

Tell me a little bit about The Fresh Air Fund.
We register students in the spring of their 6th grade year. They stay in our program for three years. They go to camp for 3 1/2 weeks each summer.

Monday through Friday they take classes from 8:30-4:30. We offer a wide variety of classes. I taught journalism and we also have international relations, we have dance, and dark room photography. We have art, music, two career classes, swimming, and more—fifteen in total.

We have evening and weekend programs that are centered around three basic things. One being typical camp programs where they [camp participants] are hiking, doing overnights in the woods, and things like that.

There is also a lot of career focused programming. We have a career fair at camp where they actually register to interview for a specific type of job. And a theoretical job is awarded to someone. Guests come in and talk about their careers.

We do a lot of talks about issues that they are facing in middle school and high school. This is part of our Youth Development Series. YDS is run by an administrative member or a counselor.

POTENTIAL FOR GROWTH

Why are you so passionate about working for the Fresh Air Fund?

I believe so much in what we do. I’m about to start my fourth summer here so I’ve really been able to see the kids grow throughout the program.

I think that at that age—from the summer before 7th grade to the summer before 9th grade—there is a lot of potential for growth. Our program is a place where the students feel really comfortable, especially after their first year. They feel like it’s a place that’s full of opportunities and they’re willing to take risks. They’re will to try things.

They have the opportunity to be exposed to so many things during the camp. I think that’s a very, very important service that the kids certainly deserve the opportunity to have. A lot of times kids that are in over-crowded schools aren’t exposed to a lot of these extra-curricular activities.

We also put a huge focus on literacy in our camps and our year-round programs. So, there are always opportunities for public speaking.

That’s excellent because according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers, communication skills are tied with leadership skills as the most desirable skill for employees to have.

You’re leading the kids. So, it’s important to
have a positive attitude about doing
new things and always being
willing to help out.

DIVERSITY, ENERGY, AND ATTITUDE

What would make someone an ideal candidate for the counselor position at the Fresh Air Fund?
We get our counselors from all over the world—literally. Geographically there’s no ideal candidate. The campers are exposed to people from all over.

I think it’s important to have similar backgrounds to the kids who have grown up in New York City, but I also think it’s important to have counselors from all over to expose the kids to the different cultures of all of the different counselors.

I think having a high energy level is certainly important. As a counselor you’re expected to participate at all times. I think that having a passion for working with children is very important.

Also, having a willingness to try anything is important. For example, even if you come in as a teacher of a certain subject that you are knowledgeable about and you feel comfortable teaching, outside of the classroom you are still going to be exposed to all kinds of different things.

As the journalism teacher I had studied journalism, I had studied advertising in school so, I was very comfortable and confident teaching journalism, but I didn’t have a lot of experience with things like sleeping in the woods, hiking, and stuff like that.

That’s something that you’re not just participating in. You’re leading the kids. So, it’s important to have a positive attitude about doing new things and always being willing to help out.

THE GREAT OUTDOORS

So, I guess you had better be the outdoors type, huh?
Yeah, but if you’re borderline then Camp Mariah might be a good place for you because the other camps are more typical camps. We have a computer lab and internet, air conditioning, toilets and showers inside of our cabins.

So, it’s more like a boarding school environment then a rustic environment, but our camp is the Career Awareness Camp. It’s different at the other camps. So, do you have to be outdoorsy? Yes, you have to be willing to try those things, but you don’t have to be a pro.

My draw in working
with the Fresh Air Fund was
working with children and working
in education and the importance of education.

IT’S ALL ABOUT EDUCATION

I’ve noticed that Millennials exhibit a high level of social responsibility and that’s exactly what I see all over your resume. Everything that is on your resume has to do with youth development and youth empowerment. That’s interesting because you went to school for advertising. Let’s talk about that little.

It’s true. Based on working at the Make-A-Wish Foundation and working with all of the counselors here at the Fresh Air Fund, I think a lot of people my age feel a huge need to give back. In my experience with the Peace Corps I was surrounded by people who wanted to give back and sought some way to make their mark and make a difference.

I think that my draw in working with the Fresh Air Fund was working with children and working in education and the importance of education. That’s what drew me here more than a social responsibility. My passion for my work here at the Fresh Air Fund is definitely tied to the educational aspect.

A MATTER OF AGE

When I’m talking to Millennials it seems like instead of dropping a donation in the mail, which is fine because we know that we gotta have the cash, but it seems like you all are little more “hands on”. Instead of just giving your money you want to give your time so that you can actually see the difference you’re making. Is that true?

I think so. I think part of that is generational, but I think part of that is also a matter of age—the age that Generation Y is right now. More of us have time and the ability to do some tangible work instead of the bank account that we could use to just write the check.

A lot of us are either in school or coming out of school. We been into our studies our whole lives and now we’re at a point where we want to do something. We’re like “okay, we’ve learned all of this. Now let’s put it to use.”

In other words, you feel that twenty-something’s from various generations are going to be more apt to be hands on because…they don’t have the cash anyway!
Right! But I do think that part of our generation is possibly more apt to be active then generations past. I think there’s a lot of variety of fields that you can go into at this point. People are feeling like there are so many choices out there that our generation is moving towards fields that are a “hands-on”, tangible kind of thing.

PHILOSOPHIES AND FAMILIES

What’s your main philosophy in life? Do you have a particular creed that you live by?

I don’t think so. That’s a lot of pressure!

Ha! That is a lot of pressure—trying to adhere to a particular philosophy. Back to the Fresh Air Fund, what’s the culture like? Is it like a family? Do you all become best friends for life?

Definitely. I think so, especially at the camp level. The staff spends 2 ½ months together and they’re together all of time. I’ve had people come up to me and say “this was the hardest thing I’ve ever done.”

But going through something like that is going to be life-changing. It’s a struggle at first, but you come out of it being so proud. You feel tied to the organization, tied to the camp, and tied to the kids. So, I think you can’t help but feel tied to the other staff as well.

Frederick Douglass once commented that “It’s easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.” Sum your philosophy about working with young people.
I think that working with young people is something that has its challenges and requires patience, but it also is the most rewarding kind of work that there is out there. It is also some of the most important work. As cliché as it sounds, it’s the young people of today who will be running the country.

Thanks for a few minutes of your time and have fun at camp!

Thank you!