On Sunday, I started my second week of camp with the campers here. The session I'm doing is an arts and crafts theme and works with campers entering 4th and 5th grade. I'm staying in the Treehouses unit this week, meaning that the girls stay in treehouses and the counselors stay in the fan-cooled unit house with electricity (the only downside is that there's no bathroom in the unit house, so we have to walk about 30 yards to the bathroom.) The weather has been absolutely horrible because of Debby (who I didn't even know about until Monday, which shows you how out of touch with technology I am while at camp.) On Sunday night, we had to do the traditional opening campfire inside the dining hall at the fireplace. Afterward, we went to the unit house, where everybody, both campers and staff, have been staying because of the weather. We had a tornado warning literally all night, which is scary enough when you're at home with a roommate, but is twenty times scarier when you're responsible for the safety of 15 kids who aren't your own. Aside from a downpour of rain, we didn't have anything of note happen weather-wise. It's been raining or sprinkling pretty much non-stop, with maybe a 10 minute lull here or there.
On Monday, we weren't able to let the girls take their swimming tests, so we made and painted flowers made out of water bottles. The girls drew, had me time and made friendship bracelets and lanyards. Our all camp activity last night was a dance party, which was a ton of fun for the staff and the girls (much more fun than the one on Friday, probably because we're not as tired by Monday).
The weather was a tiny bit better Tuesday, so during a super long break in the rain (about 45 minutes) the girls were able to do archery before lunch, after they made their paper beads craft and went to the camp store. After lunch, the girls looked out of the windows of the unit house and drew pictures of trees and the treehouses. I went on my time off right before the girls were scheduled to go on their nature hike to collect leaves/branches/etc for a nature themed art project. The wifi and cell phone service at camp has, unfortunately, been particularly unreliable today but thank goodness I was able to get all of my homework that's due today done and submitted yesterday!
I have to tell the backstory for everyone to understand this next paragraph: at camp, we have different caamp sororities, one is for sassy counselors (Sigma Lambda Kappa), one is for people who eat a lot (Phi Phi Alpha), an a capella sorority (KA) and one for people who cry all the time (SAPS). When I checked my mailbox Tuesday, aside from presents from my secret buddy (which I need to go to my car to get the stuff for my secret buddy!!! OOPS!!!), was a bid for Sigma Lambda Kappa! Hollaaaa! Yesterday when my UL checked my mailbox for me, I had a bid for Phi Phi Alpha! Scoreee.
On Wednesday, the girls had their swim tests and had their swim time cut short because, unfortunately there was a gator chilling about 20 feet away from the swim area. We also made pasta necklaces with Happy, a program assistant. These were the most legit pasta necklaces ever--the noodles we used looked like little pony beads and got dyed pink and blue, then decorated with paint. I made a super cute bracelet that's a hair too small for my wrist that will probably be given to my sister. While I was on my time off, the girls made clay sculptures that they'll paint (hopefully) at some point today.
Since yesterday was Wednesday, we had a pack-out dinner around the campfire in our unit. We made three minute pita pizzas. I didn't end up eating because on my time off right before, I went with a couple of coworkers to Moe's in the next real town over. It was a delicious break from camp food!
This morning the girls worked some more on drawing, this time drawing their dream tree house while incorporating shading. After that, they went to the lake for swim time, and I went on my time off. A couple of coworkers and I went to this adorable (and cheap!) ice cream shop right down the road. It was delicious and super convenient! That's about all for now, I'm about to do some homework with Bronx before lunch...thrilling!
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Saturday, June 23, 2012
The End of Week One...a little delayed
This is a bit delayed between getting off work late yesterday and being busy with homework and my perfect new roommate moving in, but I'm finally getting around to updating you all on the last couple of days of camp. On Thursday, we woke up at about 8, another much needed sleep-in morning and got the girls all packed up and ready to go after breakfast by about 11:30. Their clue led us to the Fort in St. Augustine to eat lunch (sandwiches for the third day in a row! We had them make their lunches before leaving camp that morning) on the lawn. It was a cloudy but pretty (and not humid!) day. The breeze coming off the water was refreshing.
We walked back to where we parked (the Ripley's Believe it Or Not parking lot) and got the girls completely loaded into the van and gave them their last clue. To throw them off since we were in the Ripley's parking lot, we told them the last clue was probably just going to lead us back to camp. They opened it and were so surprised and over the moon to find out we were going to Ripley's. The girls (and us counselors!) had the best time there. It was my second time visiting, but there have been new exhibits added, so it was really exciting. Plus, Ripley's will never fail to be anything less than thrilling.
Yesterday consisted of packing, cleaning the unit, an all camp dance party, and camper's choice. For camper's choice, I was one of the counselors in charge of taking the girls on a hike from the dining hall to the bunkhouses and stables to see the horses. Thankfully we took the tractor back to the dining hall and didn't have to hike anymore--it was a really hot day! The girls got picked up between 4-6 and the ones who aren't returning this summer got to learn our real names. A lot of the girls wanted my email address to keep in touch, so I got written consent from their parents and gave it to them. It was really sad seeing the girls leave, because while they were chatty, they were the best girls ever. They really made the week more enjoyable than it could have been.
I forgot to mention that on Thursday night after dinner, I told the girls that I went to high school for voice and so they asked me to sing for them and had me give them a mini concert during what was supposed to be my time off that night. It was fun just hanging out with them and taking their requests. They were so sweet because they kept telling me I should audition for American Idol. One of them said, "You should audition for American Idol so that we'll know your real name when we see you on TV!" It was too cute.
I promised everyone I'd tell you how the wakeup call went on Thursday what with the cadets in our unit. It wasn't as bad as I expected! I guess we were far enough away that the wake up didn't keep me from sleeping. It was a bunch of yelling and screaming, which definitely isn't how I'd ever want to be woken up, but seeing as I was expecting them to pull out all the stops with air horns and bull horns, the yelling and screaming was a little bit of a relief!
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
The Amazing Race Continues
Today was an amazing sleep in day! Our schedule was made so we didn't have to wake up until 10 (we woke up at 8:30 instead because that'd give us enough time to cook, eat, and clean before we had to leave). It was so glorious, and much needed after last night. A little after dinner yesterday, a camper ran into a door and hit her eye. At about 11:15, she came into the staff bedroom (I was the only one awake to help her out). I told her to put an ice pack on again. 15 minutes later, two other campers came in and let me know that she was crying and really wanted me to come help her, so I put colder ice in her ice pack and told all the other girls in the room to stop talking. I'm pretty sure they did because I didn't get anymore complaints about anything.
This morning was really relaxed, we had breakfast (chocolate chip pancakes, sausage and fruit), packed, and left. Before we left, we let the girl play on a playground right next door for about an hour. They had a great time and finally perfected their execution of the buddy check!
In the car on the way to their next secret location, we ate lunch and the girls filled out Kateri Charm Award slips (the papers that we get beads for) for today and yesterday. Out of the 18 papers, I got NINE awards from the girls!!!!! I was so excited when I went though and read them, I'll be sure to post pictures or the comments they wrote later, because they were so amazing to read and definitely reaffirm that I'm doing something right as a counselor.
Their next clue led them to McDonald's to get ice cream, then to a camp where they could swim and where we're staying tonight. Coincidentally, this camp is the same one my brother's at for a week long cadet camp! Unfortunately I haven't gotten to see him up close, but it's still a really awesome coincidence. We made dinner over an actual fire (Hillbilly Burritos, which are burritos made in a pie iron over a fire) that we built ourselves with wood and a couple of matches. When we were done with that we went to the pool where the girls swam for about half an hour before dark (I was a watcher and my unit leader lifeguarded--we met at our lifeguarding training a couple of weeks ago!). I could see all the groups at the cadet program doing their work. More power to them, because that looks hard! My brother is tougher than I thought; I am so proud of all his hard work!
We got back and had the girls wash dishes, shower, and get into their cabins. We luckily get to stay in these cabins rather than the tents we brought since there were unused ones on the girl cadet side of camp (the boys are on the opposite side of camp in the other group of cabins.) Because we're over here and not in tents in a field, we had to get the girls in bed, totally silent with lights out by 9:30, which is no easy task with middle schoolers! We managed and are relaxing in our cabin (I'm typing this on my phone once again!) The cadets have to wake up at 5:30 in the morning (!!!!!!!!) in a way that will apparently wake us up as well because its so loud. I'll let everyone know how that experience goes! That's about all for now, I'll be back to my camp tomorrow night, but hopefully I'll have 3G and will be able to make another post from my tent after the girls are in bed telling you about tomorrow's events!
This morning was really relaxed, we had breakfast (chocolate chip pancakes, sausage and fruit), packed, and left. Before we left, we let the girl play on a playground right next door for about an hour. They had a great time and finally perfected their execution of the buddy check!
In the car on the way to their next secret location, we ate lunch and the girls filled out Kateri Charm Award slips (the papers that we get beads for) for today and yesterday. Out of the 18 papers, I got NINE awards from the girls!!!!! I was so excited when I went though and read them, I'll be sure to post pictures or the comments they wrote later, because they were so amazing to read and definitely reaffirm that I'm doing something right as a counselor.
Their next clue led them to McDonald's to get ice cream, then to a camp where they could swim and where we're staying tonight. Coincidentally, this camp is the same one my brother's at for a week long cadet camp! Unfortunately I haven't gotten to see him up close, but it's still a really awesome coincidence. We made dinner over an actual fire (Hillbilly Burritos, which are burritos made in a pie iron over a fire) that we built ourselves with wood and a couple of matches. When we were done with that we went to the pool where the girls swam for about half an hour before dark (I was a watcher and my unit leader lifeguarded--we met at our lifeguarding training a couple of weeks ago!). I could see all the groups at the cadet program doing their work. More power to them, because that looks hard! My brother is tougher than I thought; I am so proud of all his hard work!
We got back and had the girls wash dishes, shower, and get into their cabins. We luckily get to stay in these cabins rather than the tents we brought since there were unused ones on the girl cadet side of camp (the boys are on the opposite side of camp in the other group of cabins.) Because we're over here and not in tents in a field, we had to get the girls in bed, totally silent with lights out by 9:30, which is no easy task with middle schoolers! We managed and are relaxing in our cabin (I'm typing this on my phone once again!) The cadets have to wake up at 5:30 in the morning (!!!!!!!!) in a way that will apparently wake us up as well because its so loud. I'll let everyone know how that experience goes! That's about all for now, I'll be back to my camp tomorrow night, but hopefully I'll have 3G and will be able to make another post from my tent after the girls are in bed telling you about tomorrow's events!
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
The Start of The Amazing Race!
So far, the week has gotten off to a great start! To get started, the unit I'm staying in at the camp is pretty creepy at night, I'll be honest. It's made up of 9 platform tents all organized kind of in a circle with a unit house in front. Surprisingly, even though it's summer in Florida, the tents somehow stay cool! My co-counselors and I woke up cold this morning! The best part about the unit I'm in is that there's a completely separate staff bathroom about ten feet behind our platform tent. At night, I always make sure I go to the showers and the bathroom with another one of the counselors (there are three of us in the unit) because this unit passively reminds me of Camp Crystal Lake from Friday the 13th...yikes! One last thing about these bathrooms is that the showers seriously look like they belong in a spaceship. They're really weird, but thankfully there's plenty of hot water, so no complaints!
We only have nine girls total, so it's a really relaxed environment, they're all really good kids and get along really well, especially for all being middle schoolers! In the group, there are TWO sets of identical twins. What are the odds?? Sunday was a really relaxed day; all the girls got the unit after checking in at about 4. From there, we taught them a song to perform at opening campfire and we played a name game to introduce ourselves and learn everyone else's names. We went to dinner after that, then had the opening campfire, which is a major misnomer because there was no fire involved. It was just everyone going to the amphitheater by the dining hall, singing, and staff introductions. After that we went back to our unit, made unit rules, got our activity schedule and went to bed. The girls were in bed at 10:30 and staff was awake until about 12.
Yesterday after breakfast, the girls got swim tested, then they went to kayaking and did archery (I had my two hour time off during this and did homeworker....the wifi went off sixties in a little less than 2 hours, so that was cool.) Afterward, we went to lunch then back to our unit to see horses that were brought over from the stable. The girls had "me time", then made journals to write about the trip in.
After dinner, we had an all camp activity involving teams of about ten, eight water game stations and hundreds of gallons of water--it was insane! One station played hot potato with a HUGE soaking wet sponge, another did a relay race where the girl's were in two lines and had to put a soaking wet (soaked as in dunked in a wheelbarrow of water immediately before) shirt on then run to some cones and back. The girls alternated stations every 5-10 minutes or so and everyone was drenched afterward...fortunately we knew to put them in swimwear! I stayed completely dry, thank goodness! After that, we went to our unit and had the girls pack for the start of The Amazing Race!
We left on our trip this morning right after breakfast. The girls first clue told them the name of the property we're staying at. After we got there, we unloaded the van and the girls made paper bead necklaces and bracelets. After that, their next clue sent us to an art museum in Jacksonville. We spent a couple of hours trying to find six specific pieces of art. The girls found two of them, and gawked over another one of the sculptures without paying enough attention to realize that it was one of the pieces they were looking for! While at the museum, a woman saw our camp shirts and told us that he daughter is a camper, which an employee overheard and told us that she used to camp there when she was a little girl. It was a very cool experience! After we got done there, my mom met up in the parking lot to give me something; it was really nice to see her and my sister, even though it was really brief.
When we finished that, we came back to our campsite (air conditioned, hallelujah!!!), cooked dinner and dessert (a banana boat!), and relaxed and goofed off some. Today's been a really fun and exciting yet relaxing day. Tomorrow should be just as fun...minus the fact that we have to pitch tents...it's easy, but I'd much rather be in a real, air conditioned building!
That's about all for now, if I forgot anything it'll have to wait because I just typed this entire thing on my phone. Oh, reliable wifi, how I miss you.
We only have nine girls total, so it's a really relaxed environment, they're all really good kids and get along really well, especially for all being middle schoolers! In the group, there are TWO sets of identical twins. What are the odds?? Sunday was a really relaxed day; all the girls got the unit after checking in at about 4. From there, we taught them a song to perform at opening campfire and we played a name game to introduce ourselves and learn everyone else's names. We went to dinner after that, then had the opening campfire, which is a major misnomer because there was no fire involved. It was just everyone going to the amphitheater by the dining hall, singing, and staff introductions. After that we went back to our unit, made unit rules, got our activity schedule and went to bed. The girls were in bed at 10:30 and staff was awake until about 12.
Yesterday after breakfast, the girls got swim tested, then they went to kayaking and did archery (I had my two hour time off during this and did homeworker....the wifi went off sixties in a little less than 2 hours, so that was cool.) Afterward, we went to lunch then back to our unit to see horses that were brought over from the stable. The girls had "me time", then made journals to write about the trip in.
After dinner, we had an all camp activity involving teams of about ten, eight water game stations and hundreds of gallons of water--it was insane! One station played hot potato with a HUGE soaking wet sponge, another did a relay race where the girl's were in two lines and had to put a soaking wet (soaked as in dunked in a wheelbarrow of water immediately before) shirt on then run to some cones and back. The girls alternated stations every 5-10 minutes or so and everyone was drenched afterward...fortunately we knew to put them in swimwear! I stayed completely dry, thank goodness! After that, we went to our unit and had the girls pack for the start of The Amazing Race!
We left on our trip this morning right after breakfast. The girls first clue told them the name of the property we're staying at. After we got there, we unloaded the van and the girls made paper bead necklaces and bracelets. After that, their next clue sent us to an art museum in Jacksonville. We spent a couple of hours trying to find six specific pieces of art. The girls found two of them, and gawked over another one of the sculptures without paying enough attention to realize that it was one of the pieces they were looking for! While at the museum, a woman saw our camp shirts and told us that he daughter is a camper, which an employee overheard and told us that she used to camp there when she was a little girl. It was a very cool experience! After we got done there, my mom met up in the parking lot to give me something; it was really nice to see her and my sister, even though it was really brief.
When we finished that, we came back to our campsite (air conditioned, hallelujah!!!), cooked dinner and dessert (a banana boat!), and relaxed and goofed off some. Today's been a really fun and exciting yet relaxing day. Tomorrow should be just as fun...minus the fact that we have to pitch tents...it's easy, but I'd much rather be in a real, air conditioned building!
That's about all for now, if I forgot anything it'll have to wait because I just typed this entire thing on my phone. Oh, reliable wifi, how I miss you.
Sunday, June 17, 2012
First Day with Campers!
I woke up bright and early at about 7:40 to get ready to go to be to camp by 11. Today's the first day that campers will be at the camp, and I'm really excited, but a little nervous at the same time. I'm working with middle school aged girls and we're taking an off-camp trip for three days and two nights, which is going to be super fun, but definitely intimidating since we won't be in the safety of the camp's property.
We have something at camp called Secret Buddies where you pull a name out of your hat to find out who your buddy is and you leave them little notes and gifts (ideally according to their interests list) for the week and then at the end of the week, you find out who your secret buddy is. I got my secret buddy twizzlers, hair scrunchies, and "sparkling mineral water" (her favorite drink) and already wrote the little notes that go with them.
Well, that's pretty much all for right now! Here's a look at how excited I am for camp:
We have something at camp called Secret Buddies where you pull a name out of your hat to find out who your buddy is and you leave them little notes and gifts (ideally according to their interests list) for the week and then at the end of the week, you find out who your secret buddy is. I got my secret buddy twizzlers, hair scrunchies, and "sparkling mineral water" (her favorite drink) and already wrote the little notes that go with them.
Well, that's pretty much all for right now! Here's a look at how excited I am for camp:
Saturday, June 16, 2012
Staff Training
Well, I obviously haven't posted in a while because this week I was super busy with all of my staff training (and the wifi is awful). Basically I learned all about every single protocol in the staff manual (which isn't as big as my lifeguarding/CPR/first aid manual), regarding off camp trips, emergency procedures, meal time, etc. Everyone at camp is so friendly and fun to be around. This week I got headaches everyday (except Wednesday) from the heat and humidity, which is crazy considering I've lived in Florida my whole life and ended up sleeping in the air conditioned infirmary for a little over an hour one day after lunch.
On Sunday when I got to camp, everyone took a Briggs Myers personality test. When we got our tests back later, we not only found out our personality results (I'm an ISFJ), but the Harry Potter character who's personality corresponds to the letters....I got Hagrid. I had high hopes for one of the three main characters, because that would be too awesome, but it's better than getting Voldemort or something! Only one other person got the same results, and she was someone I'd never really had the opportunity to work with yet because she works in the stables with the horses, which is really time consuming, so it was awesome to get to know someone new!
On Wednesday, everyone who needed to be re-certified (or certified for the first time) in First Aid and CPR spent the morning doing that while the rest of us spent that time in the office (with air conditioning!) putting together camper care packages and making direction signs for parents dropping their kids off at the camp. While doing this, I discovered that one of my coworkers is a huge Dance Moms fan, like myself, so we watched the previous night's episode while sign making. It was a blast and a half to say the least. Later that night, we found out where we're assigned to work this week. I got my first choice session, which I'm really excited about! It's an Amazing Race session for middle school girls and we're going on a three day, two night trip around northeast Florida. It'll be a lot of fun, since it's going to be like the show (which a Chi Omega won last season!)
I don't know if I've posted about how secluded this camp is, but it is in the middle of nowhere. COMPLETELY separated from civilization! The day's most exciting event is being able to go to the Kangaroo a mile up the road to fill up your Roo Cup (you pay $7 for a big cup that you get 25 cent refills in all summer). Generally we all load up cars during our time off (TO) and make our "Roo runs." On Wednesday night, we had our TO from 8-10 (our day ends at 10, we have to be on camp property by 11, and lights off is at midnight), so three of my coworkers and myself drove to Gainesville (which is a little over 30 minutes away) and spent about half an hour there. We went to the Chi Omega house and took pictures and the Kappa Delta house (one of my coworkers is a KD at UNF) and drove around and looked at all the other houses they have. We had about ten extra minutes so we drove to Shands so my big could see a high school friend while the other three of us went to the bathroom (and took some paper towels to bring back to camp, since we're "eco-friendly" and don't have them at camp). It was so exciting to actually go out and be a part of actual civilization in real-life clothes, rather than gym clothes!
I also have to tell you all that it rains A LOT at camp. Not even just rain, but thunderstorms. A tornado touched down by camp on Tuesday and on Wednesday when we were training in the dining hall, the wind was whipping around so much that the doors of the building were opening and closing on their own! We had to tie the doors shut...it was like something out of a scary movie! On Tuesday night, the power for our camp and the camp across the lake shut off! The weather is crazy!
We have an award/recognition system at work where each person fills out a green slip of paper after lunch everyday (we only did it two days this week, though) calling out one staff member for a moment of character, eco-friendliness, positivity, etc. When someone writes one for you, you receive a bead on your bead string that hangs in the dining hall corresponding to what someone said you did (a purple bead for moment of character, green for eco-friendly, etc) Once a week, we fill out a golden slip nominating someone for staff member of the week, who also gets a special color bead. On Thursday, we got slips other people had filled out for us back and I got two green slips from people! One was for moment of character, I don't remember what the other one was for. Yesterday, our bead strings were hung in the dining hall (in alphabetical order). Before we got to see them, my boss stood up and told everyone that there are also special beads you can get if the leadership team thinks you've done something to deserve a leadership team award bead. When she said this, my first thought was "Well, I haven't done anything noteworthy this week!" But I was one of the three people who got a leadership award! I got it for my positive attitude and for really breaking out of my shell this week. I was really honored and proud of myself for being recognized by the leadership team.
Later that day, we got "paper plate awards." I was a little confused as to what these were, but everyone gets a paper plate, puts their name on a paper plate and they all get passed around the circle and people write a word or short phrase about that person on their plate. It was a lot of fun, but really difficult for people I didn't know very well! After that, we made "burn bracelets" that we're supposed to wear the entire summer and even longer if we can (I'll only be able to wear mine until recruitment, unfortunately!)
When we finished that, it was time to leave for the weekend! I got back to Orlando at about 8:10, spent 10 minutes changing and freshening up and had dinner at Chili's with my big, grandbig and her boyfriend. It was so awesome eating non-camp food! Don't get me wrong, 90% of the food at camp isn't bad at all, but let's be serious, Chili's is the best. I was so tired afterward that when I got home I watched TV for about an hour and went to bed! I was hoping to sleep in this morning, but I woke up at about 8:30. Camp has turned me into an early riser--it's been two weeks since I've slept past 9! I think that just about covers everything! Hopefully it'll be before next Saturday that I get to post again. Now off to do all of my homework for the week....yay.
On Sunday when I got to camp, everyone took a Briggs Myers personality test. When we got our tests back later, we not only found out our personality results (I'm an ISFJ), but the Harry Potter character who's personality corresponds to the letters....I got Hagrid. I had high hopes for one of the three main characters, because that would be too awesome, but it's better than getting Voldemort or something! Only one other person got the same results, and she was someone I'd never really had the opportunity to work with yet because she works in the stables with the horses, which is really time consuming, so it was awesome to get to know someone new!
On Wednesday, everyone who needed to be re-certified (or certified for the first time) in First Aid and CPR spent the morning doing that while the rest of us spent that time in the office (with air conditioning!) putting together camper care packages and making direction signs for parents dropping their kids off at the camp. While doing this, I discovered that one of my coworkers is a huge Dance Moms fan, like myself, so we watched the previous night's episode while sign making. It was a blast and a half to say the least. Later that night, we found out where we're assigned to work this week. I got my first choice session, which I'm really excited about! It's an Amazing Race session for middle school girls and we're going on a three day, two night trip around northeast Florida. It'll be a lot of fun, since it's going to be like the show (which a Chi Omega won last season!)
I don't know if I've posted about how secluded this camp is, but it is in the middle of nowhere. COMPLETELY separated from civilization! The day's most exciting event is being able to go to the Kangaroo a mile up the road to fill up your Roo Cup (you pay $7 for a big cup that you get 25 cent refills in all summer). Generally we all load up cars during our time off (TO) and make our "Roo runs." On Wednesday night, we had our TO from 8-10 (our day ends at 10, we have to be on camp property by 11, and lights off is at midnight), so three of my coworkers and myself drove to Gainesville (which is a little over 30 minutes away) and spent about half an hour there. We went to the Chi Omega house and took pictures and the Kappa Delta house (one of my coworkers is a KD at UNF) and drove around and looked at all the other houses they have. We had about ten extra minutes so we drove to Shands so my big could see a high school friend while the other three of us went to the bathroom (and took some paper towels to bring back to camp, since we're "eco-friendly" and don't have them at camp). It was so exciting to actually go out and be a part of actual civilization in real-life clothes, rather than gym clothes!
I also have to tell you all that it rains A LOT at camp. Not even just rain, but thunderstorms. A tornado touched down by camp on Tuesday and on Wednesday when we were training in the dining hall, the wind was whipping around so much that the doors of the building were opening and closing on their own! We had to tie the doors shut...it was like something out of a scary movie! On Tuesday night, the power for our camp and the camp across the lake shut off! The weather is crazy!
We have an award/recognition system at work where each person fills out a green slip of paper after lunch everyday (we only did it two days this week, though) calling out one staff member for a moment of character, eco-friendliness, positivity, etc. When someone writes one for you, you receive a bead on your bead string that hangs in the dining hall corresponding to what someone said you did (a purple bead for moment of character, green for eco-friendly, etc) Once a week, we fill out a golden slip nominating someone for staff member of the week, who also gets a special color bead. On Thursday, we got slips other people had filled out for us back and I got two green slips from people! One was for moment of character, I don't remember what the other one was for. Yesterday, our bead strings were hung in the dining hall (in alphabetical order). Before we got to see them, my boss stood up and told everyone that there are also special beads you can get if the leadership team thinks you've done something to deserve a leadership team award bead. When she said this, my first thought was "Well, I haven't done anything noteworthy this week!" But I was one of the three people who got a leadership award! I got it for my positive attitude and for really breaking out of my shell this week. I was really honored and proud of myself for being recognized by the leadership team.
Later that day, we got "paper plate awards." I was a little confused as to what these were, but everyone gets a paper plate, puts their name on a paper plate and they all get passed around the circle and people write a word or short phrase about that person on their plate. It was a lot of fun, but really difficult for people I didn't know very well! After that, we made "burn bracelets" that we're supposed to wear the entire summer and even longer if we can (I'll only be able to wear mine until recruitment, unfortunately!)
When we finished that, it was time to leave for the weekend! I got back to Orlando at about 8:10, spent 10 minutes changing and freshening up and had dinner at Chili's with my big, grandbig and her boyfriend. It was so awesome eating non-camp food! Don't get me wrong, 90% of the food at camp isn't bad at all, but let's be serious, Chili's is the best. I was so tired afterward that when I got home I watched TV for about an hour and went to bed! I was hoping to sleep in this morning, but I woke up at about 8:30. Camp has turned me into an early riser--it's been two weeks since I've slept past 9! I think that just about covers everything! Hopefully it'll be before next Saturday that I get to post again. Now off to do all of my homework for the week....yay.
Friday, June 8, 2012
The Story of How I Failed My Lifeguarding Practical
Well, the good news about today is that I'm CPR/First Aid certified. The bad news is that I woke up with a migraine, felt like I was dying, gave the lifeguarding practical a try andddd....failed. No joke. I told the instructors just as a heads up that I had a killer migraine, so of course they gave me the most difficult positions to do during the test. I know that I need to be prepared to do anything while on duty, I definitely would not have showed up to work (if I ever were to have a job as a lifeguard) in the state I was in this morning. It was pretty lucky I even showed up and attempted the test at all, to be perfectly honest. While I'm pretty disappointed that I would have passed it had I been in top condition, seeing as I've been executing all the moves correctly all week (except for this morning...just my luck), I'm kind of glad that I won't have to worry about taking on all the responsibilities of a lifeguard. I can retake this test anytime at camp this summer when one of the instructors is there, which is awesome because I won't have to retake the entire course, so I think I'll do that just so I can get the satisfaction of having the certification. I plan on waiting until the very end of summer so I'll have as little chance as possible to actually have to use the certification. The fact that I've been doing great all week and passed the written exam without a problem shows that I obviously know how to do stuff and shouldn't have a problem this summer whenever I end up taking it again. The good thing about today is that everyone (except the people who work at the camp where the training was held) was released at a little before noon, which was a nice change from the regular 10 and 11 PM dismissals (for a supposed to be 1-8 class, by the way.)
I'll be in Orlando until bright and early Sunday morning when I have to be to camp at 9 AM to start staff training. I'm really excited about being a counselor; my coworkers (that sounds so weird to say) who took the lifeguarding class and canoeing class with me were super nice and we got along really well. Sunday's definitely going to start a crazy summer!
I'll be in Orlando until bright and early Sunday morning when I have to be to camp at 9 AM to start staff training. I'm really excited about being a counselor; my coworkers (that sounds so weird to say) who took the lifeguarding class and canoeing class with me were super nice and we got along really well. Sunday's definitely going to start a crazy summer!
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Today is kind of a blur of everything that happened, so between that and not getting much sleep this week and having really achy muscles, I'll try and cover everything. The main things I learned today were escapes which, pretty obviously, are when you need to escape from a drowning victim who is trying to take you down with them. The forward escape (facing the victim) is pretty easy, because if unable to use the proper technique, it's easier to kick someone to get them off of you. The escape in which the victim is trying (well, not really trying, since they're just doing everything they can to stay afloat) to drown you when you have your back to them. Doing this maneuver with a guy who is a lifeguard and has strong arms and has to weigh twice as much as you is NOT the most fun you will ever have, I promise you. The first time I attempted to escape, I was able to get my head above water, but he grabbed me again and pulled me back underwater when I was halfway through a breath, so I inhaled a good amount of water, but was able to escape for good about five seconds afterward (I feel like it was five seconds, but you honestly have no concept of time when you're essentially being drowned.)
The only other skill I learned was a zero entry backboard, where you backboard someone from extremely shallow (think less than one foot) of water. This is surprisingly just as difficult as the other two types of backboarding because turning someone on their side and then rolling them back on their back onto the backboard is extremely difficult when gravity is working against you, you have to keep their spine stabilized, AND have to keep their face out of the water.
A lot of the day was spent practicing all the skills we learned--compact jumps, surface dives, run and swim entries, submerged victim rescues, active victim rescues, you name it. This was after swimming 200 meters freestyle and 200 meters sidestroke, which is really awesome when it's less than 24 hours after you first learn the proper technique (I hope you all picked up on the sarcasm.)
We had a lunch break (Firehouse Subs, yum!) and Clay County EMTs came to tell us about what they generally expect from lifeguards and what they want to happen when they come to take over. This was extremely informative, and knowing that the EMTs are (almost) always up for jumping in the water to help when needed (and when given permission to, depending on county and even state) is very comforting, especially when they're much more qualified than me as a lifeguard (I train for a week, they train for months.)
After this, we were supposed to go back into the pool, but a thunderstorm started rolling in, so everybody put chairs and tables away and grabbed everything and headed over to the main house where we practiced CPR and took the written CPR/First Aid, Lifeguarding, and Waterfront written exams. Thankfully, I passed all three. After dinner, we discussed the different aspects of waterfront guarding, something we hadn't gone over as much as pool guarding, which is great because my camp has two lakes and no pool.
At a little before 8:30, we were free to go, and I don't have to report back to the pool until 9:30, thank goodness. I'm pretty sure a 13 hour break is the longest one I've had since Monday! I'm going to end this post here so I can use this extra time to catch up on some sleep, hopefully!
Oh, I almost forgot, on the way to the parking lot, I saw this cute little deer! The picture isn't very good, but it's better than nothing!
The only other skill I learned was a zero entry backboard, where you backboard someone from extremely shallow (think less than one foot) of water. This is surprisingly just as difficult as the other two types of backboarding because turning someone on their side and then rolling them back on their back onto the backboard is extremely difficult when gravity is working against you, you have to keep their spine stabilized, AND have to keep their face out of the water.
A lot of the day was spent practicing all the skills we learned--compact jumps, surface dives, run and swim entries, submerged victim rescues, active victim rescues, you name it. This was after swimming 200 meters freestyle and 200 meters sidestroke, which is really awesome when it's less than 24 hours after you first learn the proper technique (I hope you all picked up on the sarcasm.)
We had a lunch break (Firehouse Subs, yum!) and Clay County EMTs came to tell us about what they generally expect from lifeguards and what they want to happen when they come to take over. This was extremely informative, and knowing that the EMTs are (almost) always up for jumping in the water to help when needed (and when given permission to, depending on county and even state) is very comforting, especially when they're much more qualified than me as a lifeguard (I train for a week, they train for months.)
After this, we were supposed to go back into the pool, but a thunderstorm started rolling in, so everybody put chairs and tables away and grabbed everything and headed over to the main house where we practiced CPR and took the written CPR/First Aid, Lifeguarding, and Waterfront written exams. Thankfully, I passed all three. After dinner, we discussed the different aspects of waterfront guarding, something we hadn't gone over as much as pool guarding, which is great because my camp has two lakes and no pool.
At a little before 8:30, we were free to go, and I don't have to report back to the pool until 9:30, thank goodness. I'm pretty sure a 13 hour break is the longest one I've had since Monday! I'm going to end this post here so I can use this extra time to catch up on some sleep, hopefully!
Oh, I almost forgot, on the way to the parking lot, I saw this cute little deer! The picture isn't very good, but it's better than nothing!
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Lifeguarding is too exhausting for this to be a real post
I'm keeping this extremely short because I'm so so so tired. I got to the pool at 11 AM and didn't leave training until 12 AM. If you need help with that math, I was training for 13 hours, with 30 minutes for lunch and 30 minutes for dinner. I am so sunburnt on my back and face in spite of the fact that I apply sunscreen (SPF 100!) at least four times a day. The only real skill I learned was how to backboard a victim with a potential head, neck, or spine injury in deep water, which is exhausting when you have to hold a board with another person who is all dead weight up on your chest (while holding their head completely stable) for 5 minutes ideally, but realistically since we're all lifeguards in training closer to 10. There was a 200 meter relay and then a relay race in which everyone only had to swim 25 meters.
A thunderstorm rolled in at around 6 PM, so everyone got out of the pool and to shelter to learn about first aid. At about 9 or 10 we started out CPR training, which takes a lot of work (I now understand why people get so tired they have to quit), but I picked up on it pretty fast. I finally left at 12 AM, got home, took a shower, and am definitely going to bed soon after I post this.
No pictures today, but the instructors goal is to have everyone certified by tomorrow, so maybe (hopefully!) some exciting certification pictures!
A thunderstorm rolled in at around 6 PM, so everyone got out of the pool and to shelter to learn about first aid. At about 9 or 10 we started out CPR training, which takes a lot of work (I now understand why people get so tired they have to quit), but I picked up on it pretty fast. I finally left at 12 AM, got home, took a shower, and am definitely going to bed soon after I post this.
No pictures today, but the instructors goal is to have everyone certified by tomorrow, so maybe (hopefully!) some exciting certification pictures!
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
I'm going to keep this post short because I am exhausted! Today I had my second day of lifeguarding, where I learned how to rescue a distressed swimmer, which was probably one of the easiest things I learned in the course. Afterward, everyone in the class had the opportunity to take turns pairing up as lifeguards guarding part of the pool while everyone else in the group simulated a busy pool day, with one or two (or three!) people drowning the way the instructor told them secretly before getting in the water. I was the last person to go, so my instructor was really branching out while coming up with ideas. I got pushed into the pool by a "child patron" and had to continue scanning the pool while I was falling and recovering! As if that wasn't enough, as soon as I made it above water and scanned to the right of me, there were two people simulating a situation in which a child is sinking a parent, so I had to rescue them both at the same time (since the other lifeguard I was working with was saving a submerged drowning person on his side of the pool...so I'm pretty prepared for any situation.) I successfully "rescued" them and got told I did it "perfect!" which was especially awesome considering we hadn't yet discussed how to do that and the only way I knew what to do was because of last night's reading. After that, we had to swim two and a half laps, rescue a submerged victim in the deep end and then swim them all the way back to the shallow end. As if that wasn't enough, right afterward we had to swim 500 meters! In my post yesterday, I was talking about how hard swimming the 1000 meters was, well, even though this was half the distance, I was so tired from just swimming 150 meters (25 of which with a person who was totally dead-weight) that I would take swimming 1000 meters over that any day!
I got a pretty decent half hour break after that and got this from my instructor:
I feel like an official lifeguard after receiving my whistle. Anyway, after that, the class learned how to rescue someone with a rescue board (which is pretty much a surfboard), which took a LOT of effort since you have to flip it over twice while holding onto a person onto it....then comes making sure their entire body is on the board without flipping it. It was really difficult since the instructor I tested it on was simulating being non-conscious.
After that came the second hardest technique of the class...learning how to rescue a victim who may have a head, neck, or spine injury from the shallow end of the pool. After a lot of practice, I finally mastered it! Most of the time I didn't keep my feet on the bottom of the pool, but instead let them float under me, so I feel like rescuing the same kind of drowner in the deep end of the pool will be easier for me than it will be for people who utilized the bottom.
After that came an hour and a half break, which included spaghetti dinner in the unit house, then CPR certification began. Unfortunately, I had to leave half an hour into that instruction to submit a homework assignment for an online class, so I have to be to the pool by 11 tomorrow morning in order to make it up the best I can. I did stay long enough into the CPR training to get this though....
Of course I had to monogram it! TSM. This was a fun way of making sure everyone knows it's mine when it's outside of my lifeguard pouch without writing my actual name on it (all employees have camp names so campers don't know our real names.)
Well, that's about it for now, off to read about everything about breathing and CPR in the lifeguarding manual before I fall asleep!
I got a pretty decent half hour break after that and got this from my instructor:
I feel like an official lifeguard after receiving my whistle. Anyway, after that, the class learned how to rescue someone with a rescue board (which is pretty much a surfboard), which took a LOT of effort since you have to flip it over twice while holding onto a person onto it....then comes making sure their entire body is on the board without flipping it. It was really difficult since the instructor I tested it on was simulating being non-conscious.
After that came the second hardest technique of the class...learning how to rescue a victim who may have a head, neck, or spine injury from the shallow end of the pool. After a lot of practice, I finally mastered it! Most of the time I didn't keep my feet on the bottom of the pool, but instead let them float under me, so I feel like rescuing the same kind of drowner in the deep end of the pool will be easier for me than it will be for people who utilized the bottom.
After that came an hour and a half break, which included spaghetti dinner in the unit house, then CPR certification began. Unfortunately, I had to leave half an hour into that instruction to submit a homework assignment for an online class, so I have to be to the pool by 11 tomorrow morning in order to make it up the best I can. I did stay long enough into the CPR training to get this though....
Well, that's about it for now, off to read about everything about breathing and CPR in the lifeguarding manual before I fall asleep!
Monday, June 4, 2012
Specialty Training So Far
Day One:
I started all my specialty trainings on Saturday, the morning was spent canoeing and the afternoon was spent on archery. As someone who has canoed on many occasions, even canoeing up the Itchetucknee in a solo canoe, I expected this to be a pretty simple class. WRONG. The beginning of the class was spent learning the different strokes you have to do depending on whether you're seated in the bow or the stern (front or back), and when there was a stroke more complicated than the regular forward motion one or a forwards or reverse sweep, I was LOST. Although, you might be surprised to learn that wasn't the most difficult part at all. Nope, the most difficult part was having to jump out of the canoe, into the lake, and having to rock the canoe back and forth with your partner so you could climb back into it. This sounds easy, right? Nope! It was literally the most physically exhausting thing I have ever done in my life (and I've run 5Ks). After four tries, I finally was able to make it in (totally prepared to puke, I'll add, so don't be too impressed) but not unscathed...
The nice top bruise is on the inside of my upper arm and the shiner on the bottom is on the inside of my right thigh...really attractive, right? Later we practiced reflipping and emptying a tipped canoe without flipping out own, which was difficult, but definitely not as challenging as the task before!
After Canoeing was over for the day, there was an hour and a half lunch break and then Archery! This course was much less strenuous than Canoeing was, and in my opinion a lot more fun. I now know most of the parts of the bow (recurve and compact) and arrow. I can restring a bow, which was definitely the hardest part, especially when you feel like you're going to break the bow from all of the tugging. After that, I learned the proper posture and technique for shooting a bow and arrow and how to teach younger people especially the process and safety precautions involved (don't go collect your bows until the range has been declared "cold", don't start shooting until you're allowed to, etc.) As it turns out, I shot the best when using a left handed bow (I'm right handed and right eyed) some weird way--I hit the target less than 1/10th of a centimeter outside of the bullseye! I wasn't too bad using the correct/right handed bow, I hit the target almost every time. After taking and passing a written exam, I got this:
If you don't know what that means, I am now a certified archery instructor and can teach you the basics of shooting a bow an arrow for the next three years, which I feel is a pretty cool skill to have right now since The Hunger Games has exploded in popularity since the movie release a couple of months ago. Watch out, Katniss Everdeen, I'm certified now!
Day Two:
Since Archery training got done a day early, the only training I had was the last day of Canoeing in the morning. Class was just taking a canoe trip up the Black Creek. I sat in the bow (the front) the entire trip, so needless to say, my arms and shoulders and back were killing me when we got done! For those of you who don't know, the person in the back of the canoe is responsible for steering and the person in the front (in this case, me) is the "powerhouse." It was definitely a workout. I got home, showered, and took a nap on the couch and pretty much didn't move for hours. It was great.
Oh, if you didn't know, you don't realize how starving you are after an intensive workout, I guess you could say, until you're finished and start eating. Then you can't stop. I kid you not, I ate two pizza lunchables and two snack-pack cookies. Then a couple hours later, I ate two more slices of pizza and while I wasn't still hungry, I definitely could have eaten for probably an hour and put Takeru Kobayashi to shame.
To be clear, I still have no idea if I got canoe certified. The instructor didn't tell us, but then I got a mass email from my boss that said everyone did great, so I'm assuming I did, but I'm not too sure, so I just plan on staying away from canoes for a while because I pretty much got my fill of them this weekend.
Day Three:
Today, I started lifeguard training. I mentioned earlier that climbing into that canoe was the most physically exhausting thing I've ever done in my life. Well, I think everything I did today in lifeguarding just completely outdid that. Let's start with the pretest, shall we?
First, I had to swim 1000 meters. You don't even realize how far 1000 meters is until you have to swim it. I watch Michael Phelps swim in the Olympics every four years and he can probably swim that in a minute and a half, so I thought it'd be maybe 5 or 10 minutes for me to do. Definitely not the case because, in case you missed it, Michael Phelps is not human. 1000 meters in the pool is 20 laps/40 lengths. By lap 3, I felt like I was going to die, but somehow, I will never know how, I was able to finish it (with three people behind me!) in probably about 20 or 30 minutes. I honestly have no idea how accurate I am because when I got out of the pool with my jello legs (did anyone know your legs can be jello and stiff at the same time? Because I didn't.) I was just concerned with getting my water bottle without falling over, let alone looking at the clock.
As if that wasn't enough, five minutes later I was back in the pool to do the brick retrieval test. If the title I just came up with isn't clear enough for you, let me explain: for this test, I had to swim 25 meters from the shallow end of the pool to the deep end, dive 7 feet down, grab a 10 pound brick from the bottom, bring it up onto my chest and swim back on my back only using my legs...in one minute and fifty seconds. Yes, you read that right: 1 minute, 50 seconds. I was the most concerned about this test, but somehow I completed it with 40 seconds to spare. Let me tell you though, the second I tried lifting that brick, I was like, "How will this be possible? This is NOT ten pounds!!" But I ended up finishing it, thank goodness.
The next test was swimming to the deep end from the shallow end and picking up three tiny ring/hoops from the bottom of the pool and getting out of the pool in one minute. Of course since this is the test I thought I'd do the best on, I completely bombed it. The first attempt I got water in my nose and couldn't complete it. So I had to go back and do it again, this time the instructor accidentally threw the third ring too far, so I had to redo it (I was so confused as to why I couldn't find it!) By the third go around, I was just exhausted and frustrated that I hadn't finished it already, so I got to the deep end (again) and got the hoops one by one, coming up for breath after each one, which you aren't supposed to do, but it was totally necessary. I got told that I passed, but the fact that I'm blind and buoyant was my problem. The last test was treading water for five minutes, which was a piece of cake.
After all that, we all got our manuals and these totally cool fanny packs!
I started all my specialty trainings on Saturday, the morning was spent canoeing and the afternoon was spent on archery. As someone who has canoed on many occasions, even canoeing up the Itchetucknee in a solo canoe, I expected this to be a pretty simple class. WRONG. The beginning of the class was spent learning the different strokes you have to do depending on whether you're seated in the bow or the stern (front or back), and when there was a stroke more complicated than the regular forward motion one or a forwards or reverse sweep, I was LOST. Although, you might be surprised to learn that wasn't the most difficult part at all. Nope, the most difficult part was having to jump out of the canoe, into the lake, and having to rock the canoe back and forth with your partner so you could climb back into it. This sounds easy, right? Nope! It was literally the most physically exhausting thing I have ever done in my life (and I've run 5Ks). After four tries, I finally was able to make it in (totally prepared to puke, I'll add, so don't be too impressed) but not unscathed...
The nice top bruise is on the inside of my upper arm and the shiner on the bottom is on the inside of my right thigh...really attractive, right? Later we practiced reflipping and emptying a tipped canoe without flipping out own, which was difficult, but definitely not as challenging as the task before!
After Canoeing was over for the day, there was an hour and a half lunch break and then Archery! This course was much less strenuous than Canoeing was, and in my opinion a lot more fun. I now know most of the parts of the bow (recurve and compact) and arrow. I can restring a bow, which was definitely the hardest part, especially when you feel like you're going to break the bow from all of the tugging. After that, I learned the proper posture and technique for shooting a bow and arrow and how to teach younger people especially the process and safety precautions involved (don't go collect your bows until the range has been declared "cold", don't start shooting until you're allowed to, etc.) As it turns out, I shot the best when using a left handed bow (I'm right handed and right eyed) some weird way--I hit the target less than 1/10th of a centimeter outside of the bullseye! I wasn't too bad using the correct/right handed bow, I hit the target almost every time. After taking and passing a written exam, I got this:
If you don't know what that means, I am now a certified archery instructor and can teach you the basics of shooting a bow an arrow for the next three years, which I feel is a pretty cool skill to have right now since The Hunger Games has exploded in popularity since the movie release a couple of months ago. Watch out, Katniss Everdeen, I'm certified now!
Day Two:
Since Archery training got done a day early, the only training I had was the last day of Canoeing in the morning. Class was just taking a canoe trip up the Black Creek. I sat in the bow (the front) the entire trip, so needless to say, my arms and shoulders and back were killing me when we got done! For those of you who don't know, the person in the back of the canoe is responsible for steering and the person in the front (in this case, me) is the "powerhouse." It was definitely a workout. I got home, showered, and took a nap on the couch and pretty much didn't move for hours. It was great.
Oh, if you didn't know, you don't realize how starving you are after an intensive workout, I guess you could say, until you're finished and start eating. Then you can't stop. I kid you not, I ate two pizza lunchables and two snack-pack cookies. Then a couple hours later, I ate two more slices of pizza and while I wasn't still hungry, I definitely could have eaten for probably an hour and put Takeru Kobayashi to shame.
To be clear, I still have no idea if I got canoe certified. The instructor didn't tell us, but then I got a mass email from my boss that said everyone did great, so I'm assuming I did, but I'm not too sure, so I just plan on staying away from canoes for a while because I pretty much got my fill of them this weekend.
Day Three:
Today, I started lifeguard training. I mentioned earlier that climbing into that canoe was the most physically exhausting thing I've ever done in my life. Well, I think everything I did today in lifeguarding just completely outdid that. Let's start with the pretest, shall we?
First, I had to swim 1000 meters. You don't even realize how far 1000 meters is until you have to swim it. I watch Michael Phelps swim in the Olympics every four years and he can probably swim that in a minute and a half, so I thought it'd be maybe 5 or 10 minutes for me to do. Definitely not the case because, in case you missed it, Michael Phelps is not human. 1000 meters in the pool is 20 laps/40 lengths. By lap 3, I felt like I was going to die, but somehow, I will never know how, I was able to finish it (with three people behind me!) in probably about 20 or 30 minutes. I honestly have no idea how accurate I am because when I got out of the pool with my jello legs (did anyone know your legs can be jello and stiff at the same time? Because I didn't.) I was just concerned with getting my water bottle without falling over, let alone looking at the clock.
As if that wasn't enough, five minutes later I was back in the pool to do the brick retrieval test. If the title I just came up with isn't clear enough for you, let me explain: for this test, I had to swim 25 meters from the shallow end of the pool to the deep end, dive 7 feet down, grab a 10 pound brick from the bottom, bring it up onto my chest and swim back on my back only using my legs...in one minute and fifty seconds. Yes, you read that right: 1 minute, 50 seconds. I was the most concerned about this test, but somehow I completed it with 40 seconds to spare. Let me tell you though, the second I tried lifting that brick, I was like, "How will this be possible? This is NOT ten pounds!!" But I ended up finishing it, thank goodness.
The next test was swimming to the deep end from the shallow end and picking up three tiny ring/hoops from the bottom of the pool and getting out of the pool in one minute. Of course since this is the test I thought I'd do the best on, I completely bombed it. The first attempt I got water in my nose and couldn't complete it. So I had to go back and do it again, this time the instructor accidentally threw the third ring too far, so I had to redo it (I was so confused as to why I couldn't find it!) By the third go around, I was just exhausted and frustrated that I hadn't finished it already, so I got to the deep end (again) and got the hoops one by one, coming up for breath after each one, which you aren't supposed to do, but it was totally necessary. I got told that I passed, but the fact that I'm blind and buoyant was my problem. The last test was treading water for five minutes, which was a piece of cake.
After all that, we all got our manuals and these totally cool fanny packs!
I learned the proper way to tread water, enter the pool depending on the situation and where the victim is in the pool (I did great at those, than goodness), and how to rescue someone based on how they're drowning. That was exhausting! I basically rescued 8-9 people in the pool today, it was really challenging, especially when the instructor I had to rescue over half the time turned "drowning" into an artform. Once you grabbed him and got him on the lifeguard float, he would take off in the other direction and you'd have to rescue him again, meaning I probably actually did closer to 20 rescues today. Which definitely explains why I'm so tired right now!
Well, that sums up the last three days, sorry for this being so long, but since I'm all caught up they should be about the third of this length from now on, depending on how exciting or boring my days are.
Well, off to work on my lifeguarding homework--I have to read two chapters and come up with two questions about the reading for each chapter. Tomorrow's going to be mostly in the pool, so hopefully that'll go well!
I think I'll try something new this summer....
That's what I said to myself a couple of months ago during my spring break. "How about I find a job for the first time ever?" Well, it wouldn't be my first job ever, I've been a babysitter for a few families before, but I don't know how much "work" is really involved in that. So I decided that I'd step it up and find a real tax-paying job....as a summer camp counselor for a camp I camped at when I was younger. I applied, interviewed and lo and behold, got a job as a "Unit Assistant", pretty much a glorified babysitter, according to my list of duties and responsibilities.
I was extremely excited about this new opportunity until I actually went to the camp (which is on the edge of the Ocala National Forest, if that tells you anything) for the first time in years for Open House. I seem to have forgotten how hot and muggy this camp is (and this is coming from someone who's lived in Florida her whole life!), especially with no air conditioning that I was able to find. And better yet--no cell phone service! This will CERTAINLY be an adventure...but thankfully I was able to rope my sorority big sister into working there this summer too.
Right now I'm in Orange Park (right outside of Jacksonville) for "specialty training" for camp, which I'll post about later, but right now I'm on my way out the door to start lifeguard training...from 1-8 today! Seven hours in the hot sun and pool...bring it on!
I was extremely excited about this new opportunity until I actually went to the camp (which is on the edge of the Ocala National Forest, if that tells you anything) for the first time in years for Open House. I seem to have forgotten how hot and muggy this camp is (and this is coming from someone who's lived in Florida her whole life!), especially with no air conditioning that I was able to find. And better yet--no cell phone service! This will CERTAINLY be an adventure...but thankfully I was able to rope my sorority big sister into working there this summer too.
Right now I'm in Orange Park (right outside of Jacksonville) for "specialty training" for camp, which I'll post about later, but right now I'm on my way out the door to start lifeguard training...from 1-8 today! Seven hours in the hot sun and pool...bring it on!
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