Bruin Woods has touched the lives of many students. Read on to learn about the experiences of the 2012 Bruin Woods student staff. This could be you!
Bruin Woods is UCLA’s best-kept secret and I am so happy that I found it. It truly is Bruin heaven; from the serene location in Lake Arrowhead to the amazing families that bring joy to the resort every week, there is constant bliss. As a 4th and 5th grade kids group counselor, the Kodiaks, I had the chance to become a kid again and revel in the glory of One Direction, boat rides, and games of mafia. These kids not only gave me an immeasurable amount of laughter and joy, but actually became my friends. I still text and email them even past the summer time. And their parents are just as amazing! Successful UCLA Alumni role models that not only adore you because their children love you but they are more than willing to give you advice and be the connection you need to be successful out in the real world. Then to top it all off your fellow staff members become your 50 new best friends. I have made relationships with all of my fellow student staffers that will last a lifetime; they are not just my friends but we are truly a family. There is just a contagious spirit of magic and joy throughout the resort, that keeps you wanting to come back year after year. So spending your summer at Bruin Woods is truly the summer of a lifetime. I am so blessed that I was chosen to be a Bruin Woods counselor as first year because I got to capitalize on the best thing at UCLA early. Don’t miss out on paradise on earth and apply to Bruin Woods!
After this past summer at Bruin Woods, I truly do not know what I ever did without Lake Arrowhead and the lasting relationships it has given me. I came away with 53 new best friends that feel more like family and invaluable connections to families that I have stayed in touch with throughout the school year. Not only does Bruin Woods give you the best summer of your life, but it gives you experiences, skills, and most importantly friends, that will last you way past the summer. It is difficult to grasp how special and unique Bruin Woods is until you experience it. The only way I can put it into words is to say that it’s better than Disneyland-way better. I would happily be a counselor at Bruin Woods without pay, but the fact that we get paid to play with kids, live on Lake Arrowhead, and work with our best friends is the luckiest opportunity around. Apply to Bruin Woods and I’m positive that you won’t have any regrets!
UCLA has given me the opportunity to become involved with a variety of organizations on campus - but none have impacted me like Bruin Woods has. Every day of “work” is a day of play - where else does the required packing list include “LOTS of COSTUMES”, and “playing with kids” is part of the job description? I had a blast as a counselor to 3-4 year olds this past summer, but also learned valuable lessons about being a role model. And even as I grew close with the UCLA alumni and their kids, I grew even closer with my fellow counselors. The counselors are the craziest, silliest, and most energetic people you will ever meet, and they will ALL become your best friends. So if meeting incredible families and gaining amazing friends sounds like the summer for you, apply for Bruin Woods 2013 - you will not regret it!
U-C-L-A BRU-IN WOODS! During every meal up at Bruin Woods everyone does a Bruin Woods 8-clap. Bruin Woods is a place full of high energy, countless good times, and lot of school spirit! UCLA has brought me many defining moments in the past two and a half years, but Bruin Woods has brought me two defining summers. I can say that without a doubt, these past two summers have been the absolute best of my life. My first summer at camp, I spent my days out on the beautiful Lake Arrowhead as a boat driver. My second summer I was a Teddy Bear Counselor which meant I got to play with three and four year olds everyday! Camp made me feel like I was a kid again! I have memories from these two summers that I will cherish forever, and 50 “co-workers” that have now become my family. Counselors at Bruin Woods get to spend their days hiking, mountain biking, swimming, playing volleyball and so much more with some of UCLA’s brightest and most energetic Alumni. Every day at camp I get to make connections with these Alumni that I know will last beyond graduation, but the best part is, I get to be a role model for their phenomenal kids! Bruin Woods is truly a little slice of Bruin Paradise. Don’t miss out on this great job opportunity, and apply for the best summer of your life!
I remember freshman year picking up a flyer on Bruin Walk about Bruin Woods, and going back to my dorm and checking out the webpage you’re on now. The testimonials made it seem like a great time, truly. But having worked two summers now, I’ve realized it’s impossible to write in a paragraph exactly what it is that makes Bruin Woods so uniquely special. Sure, it’s the amazing kids you get to play with all day, it’s the successful alumni who are often so grateful of the impact you have on their kids’ lives, it’s the beautiful Lake Arrowhead and the awesome grounds, and it’s the 53 creative, intelligent, hilarious, and simply inspiring fellow student staffers who will become your best friends in college and often for life. But when you work Bruin Woods, it becomes more than the sum of these individual parts. It’s a truly life-changing experience. Forget summer school, forget internships, forget whatever else you think you’d rather do this summer, because trust us, you’d rather do this.
I applied to Bruin Woods because everyone I knew that had worked there always said the same thing: "best summer of my life!" I'll admit, I was a little skeptical and thought they must've all been told to say that; but I needed a summer job and working with kids while living by a lake didn't seem all that bad. Now, when people ask me about my summer, I understand why they all said the same thing...Bruin Woods was by far the most incredible summer of my life, but that doesn't even begin to explain how I feel about it. I can't decide if my favorite part was living in the mountains next to beautiful Lake Arrowhead, meeting countless amazing families, making lifelong friends with my fellow student staffers, or being a role model for so many awesome kids. Bruin Woods truly is a magical place that brings out the best, most positive and creative side of everyone that is lucky enough to attend. Make sure you apply to the job that pays you to have fun; it'll be the BEST summer of your life, guaranteed!
Working at Bruin Woods is a marvelously inconceivable work environment, if you can call it a work environment that is. To say that I loved my job as a Cub counselor, working with five and six year olds, is a vast understatement. I was paid to swim, play games, and run around in the sun for twelve weeks, all the while meeting influential Bruin alumni and becoming a hero to their kids. The most rewarding part of BW isn’t the paycheck; it’s hearing roars of laughter on the front lawn as soon as you wake up, it’s kids running up to you at lunch begging you to eat with them, it’s watching the staff come together as a family to create a truly unforgettable summer. It really is something special, and if you’re looking to have the best summer of your life, start here. Working at BW guarantees working with 53 of the most outrageously talented, creative, innovative, and hilarious group of UCLA students you’ll ever come across, and they’ll become your best friends. The friends I made, the fun I had, and the lessons I learned will always stick with me. It’s an indescribably magical experience, and to fully understand, you have to experience it for yourself.
When I talk to other people about working at Bruin Woods, it’s hard for me to stop. The countless memories that come from spending twelve beautiful weeks at Lake Arrowhead have made these past two summers the best of my life. Every day I woke up to the amazing grounds and to long days filled by playing with kids and being a positive role model to them. Each week is filled with mountain biking, hiking, wake boarding, and making connections with families that will last for the rest of your college life and beyond. Bruin Woods families are some of the most successful UCLA Alumni and professors, and many student staffers find career networking opportunities that aren’t available anywhere else. So if any of this sounds just a little bit fun or interesting to you, make sure you apply or risk missing out on the summer of your life!
Applications for Bruin Woods are due no later than February 12th. Mail in your application or turn it in to the James West Alumni Center.
