How Did Sarah Get Here?

She’s camp’s dark talent and comes up with all of your favorite EP’s (and t-shirts!), but how much do you really know about Sarah Brown? How did she end up with the coolest job at camp? No better place than to hear it from the horse’s mouth - take it away, Sarah!

When I was young, my brother and I spent our summers in Flat Rock, NC at my grandma’s house. When my parents were interested in sending us to camp, they had a family friend rave about Greystone, which made it the perfect pairing – close to my grandma’s house and coupled with a great endorsement from a friend. So, my parents signed me up for August Camp when I was six years old.

I absolutely loved my first summer at Greystone!

I was in Tentalow Lower 1, and thought the big tree swing hanging outside the cabin was the coolest (wish it was still there!). I had two counselors, and my penpal was Betsy Fleming from Albany, GA – we became instant friends and kept up for years and years, sharing a cabin together as we got older and visiting each other in the winter (penpals at six years old can become lifelong friends!!).

I don’t remember a ton of specifics about that summer since I was so young, but I recently found an old scrapbook, and it looks like my two favorite classes were Nature (got the Bat award!) and Self Defense. But, I do know that I begged my parents to send me again….and again, and again.

I ended up being a camper for 11 years – the first three at August Camp and then I switched to Main Camp. As an introverted, slightly nerdy kid growing up, camp was the perfect place for me. I loved my camper summers and knew I wanted to work on staff. I ended up working in Landsports during my college-summers – go ADVBB!

During my Senior year at Furman, I had no idea what I was going to do when I graduated. I was a History major but didn’t want to do anything with it, so I was a little stumped.

One day, Kelly Carew called me up and wanted to know what I had planned the following year. She said that she, along with the Millers, were talking about starting an internship at camp, and they wanted to know if I was interested. I was shocked! I didn’t really know the Millers that well, so I couldn’t figure out why I was getting offered the job. After talking to Jimboy, I snatched that job up quick!

That first year working year-round was fun and kind of weird. I lived down in Deep Country (which at the time had mice, a space heater, and dark wood walls – but I thought it was so cool), and I ended up starting to date my now-husband Rob, who was working on Maintenance at the time.

That year, I started the very first “new camper” focused work at camp and started planning Evening Programs during the year (instead of just the summer) – two things I still do today! We started the first ever “giveaway stickers,” and I remember spending hours retyping the green devotion books our staff use. Kelly Carew and I had lots of fun in the office!

At the end of that year, Rob and I decided to move to Birmingham to do something different. I worked in Marketing for a construction company, and Rob and I got engaged. As our wedding was approaching in April, we started getting a little restless in Birmingham, and started getting the “camp itch” – I called up Kelly and asked if there were any last minute spots at camp; a week after our wedding, we packed up and headed back to camp for the summer as newlyweds.

I still wasn’t sure at that point if I wanted to be at Greystone year-round, so after working that summer, I instead worked with the summer programs and in marketing for a private school in Greenville, SC. After working that job for a year, I was getting restless again and just knew camp was where I wanted to be; I missed having a job that connected so closely with what I believed and where you could see how the work throughout the year made an impact in so many girls’ lives.

So, I came back to Greystone in 2008, and the rest is history!

When I was a camper back in 1990, I never would have guessed I would end up working full-time at camp. Who knew?

I can really see some of the ways God played out in this big story of getting me where I am today. Because of my best camp friend Jennifer Pharr, I would visit camp throughout the year when visiting her home in Hendersonville, NC, which really started my winter-love of camp. Because I went to Furman, I lived very close to camp, making it a constant “summer job” possibility in my mind. Because Rob and I hadn’t really found the right jobs for us in Birmingham when we were engaged, we decided to return to camp, even after just being married. The list goes on and on!

I can look back and see how all of these small, insignificant details and decisions kept bringing me back to camp year after year.

I am 26 years at camp now and am so thankful to work at Greystone. It is so much more than a job – how lucky I am!