Many students work as camp counselors over the summer, but how many work in Russia?

The College of Education’s Recreation and Leisure Studies major gives students the opportunity to travel to Russia as camp counselors.

“The internship lasts for a month,” said Danielle Hawkins, president of the Recreation and Leisure Studies Student Association, who traveled to Russia last year. “We focus on youth development and experiencing a different culture.”

Eleven University students participated in the internship last year.

“We were in Moscow for two days,” she said, “We then took a 16-hour train ride to Marieo and split up into four separate camps.”

Once students arrive at their assigned camp, they work with children and create various activities. One of the favorite games counselors teach children is baseball.

“Many of the children have never seen baseball,” Hawkins said.

The trip is one of the less expensive study abroad opportunities offered for students. There are several scholarships available and prospective students need not worry about a language barrier.

“Almost all Russian children start learning English in second grade,” Hawkins said. “There is almost always a translator at camp.”

Hawkins said she learned more Russian in the one month she was in the country than she did in years of foreign language in high school.

But Recreation and Leisure Studies is not just a major for camp counselors.

The degree has been likened to a business degree for recreation.

“Students in the major tend to be a real mixture of business and human resource types of students,” said Gwynn Powell, associate professor in Counseling and Human Development Services.

Students in their first semester in the major will be placed in a schedule called the “Unified Core.”

The “Unified Core” blends 12 credit hours into one class. This type of schedule allows professors to have more professional speakers and participate in more field trips.

“We use an experience learning module,” Powell said. “We give the student more personal responsibility. We expect them to learn the material and we perform activities in class that puts the material in context.”

One of the various field trips students participate in is Camp Twin Lakes – located about an hour outside Athens – which is a camp for children and adults with medical needs. Students work to design activities to meet the needs for different age groups.

The major is one of the smaller ones at the University, with only about 100 students, according to Powell.

Students will have the opportunity to meet two Russian camp counselors on Oct. 7, where the counselors will teach students international games – including the Italian game of Bocci, croquet and the Russian game of Gorodki.

The demonstration is open to all students and will be held at 10 a.m. at the Ramsey Center Courtyard.