Camp ASCCA Journal - Therapeutic Recreation

Hey, I’m Josh Rhodes, the environmental education director at Camp ASCCA. I live and work at Camp ASCCA full time. I live here with my wife Stacey and our Boykin Spaniel, Josie. Josie is a boy, by the way. Everyone thinks that he has a girl’s name. I named him after my favorite Clint Eastwood character.

I am originally from Florence, Ala. Growing up there, I lived on a small farm where my dad always had horses. This is where I developed my love for animals. Besides the horses, we always had plenty of dogs and cats — mostly strays that were taken in simply because they showed up.

After high school, I went to school at Auburn University where I graduated with a degree in economics. I ended up in economics purely by accident. I thought I would be a teacher and a basketball coach somewhere, because I’ve always enjoyed trying to shape America’s young people. For some unknown reason, Econ 201 was a required class for secondary education majors and I had to take it. It turned out to change my entire academic path.

I acquired the job here at Camp ASCCA almost by accident. I had been a summer camp counselor here since 1993. After graduating from college, I needed a part-time job while I embarked upon my career search. I happen to be in the right place at the right time when the camp was looking for an administrative assistant. I became a full time employee in the spring of 2002.

I love working at camp and couldn’t dream of being anywhere else. Camp provides me the opportunity to do the things I enjoy doing. My job allows me to take people fishing, ride horses, go canoeing and many other things. My specific job as the environmental education director allows me to educate young people about the need to care for our environment. I want to teach kids how to be good stewards of our planet, not just consumers. These things are especially important to me, as I am an avid hunter and fisherman.

Trackback URI | Subscribe to the comments through RSS Feed