Poolside January 11, 2010
Posted by jennyjumps in Working.trackback
I was recruited by the local pool to teach swimming lessons and to lifeguard part-way through my contract with the YMCA camp. It was an altogether fantastic experience. Most of the employees were my age – just barely 16 and had recently graduated from the National Lifeguarding Service.
I remember that first day of staff training. Our boss – the aquatic director – gave us a talk about workplace etiquette, keeping in mind that it was a first job for many of us. He said, “I expect you to work hard, to show up 15 minutes early for your shifts and to be prepared. If you are sick, or unable to show up for any reason, that’s O.K. I will NOT however, receive ANY phone calls from your mommies or daddies. You are adults now, and I employ YOU, not your parents. You will speak to me directly, and cancel your shift.”
In retrospect, lifeguarding was the ultimate preparation for a lifetime of positive work ethic. Most of the staff had completed their lifesaving training at the same facility and it was but another step in a well-documented career plan to attend facility training and secure a job there. That same pool educated, trained, hired, retrained, motivated, promoted, referred and in some cases fired, each one of its employees. This facility dealt in young people, and took the responsibility very seriously. It was an educational organization which ultimately hired its students, and recognized that its involvement with these employees was at a very transient time in their lives.
I learned while working here that I loved educating, was meticulous about progression, enjoyed working under pressure, had incredible amounts of patience for children and thrived upon routine.
I enjoyed many achievements while I was there and some of my proudest moments include developing and implementing lesson plans for three levels of the red cross aquatots programme and working with a 6 year old autistic boy and taking him through a level in record time.
I continued working at this location until I left for my second year of university. I attended retraining after my second year of school but ultimately decided to accept a position elsewhere. My supervisory staff at this location were instrumental in helping me to secure a lifeguarding position in Hamilton in advance of my arrival there.
