Two years ago, I was asked to start working at the summer day camp at the YMCA. I was nervous, considering I had never had a job like this before, but I caught on quickly. After a while of working throughout the summer, I started to grow a love for working with children. For the camp, I wake up at 6:30 a.m. to watch kids for 5-10 hours everyday, during the week, over breaks. Working with kids gives me an opportunity to watch all the children grow. This year, I had kids behaving so well compared to how they behaved last year.
Through the day camp, I have learned quite a bit about children. I learned all kids are different and all of them handle emotions differently. Some kids get angry really easily and some get sad really easily. A lot of the kids that come to the YMCA do not have great home lives and have a lot of emotions to deal with. There are kids who come to the YMCA with a new person every morning. This is sad to watch especially when the kids open up to you and tell you what has been going on. Some of these poor kids have been through many emotions they cannot handle. I try my hardest to be someone these kids can trust, and it is safe to say I have made it to that point for them. One of my favorite things to do is be a light in these kids’ lives, and share with them the love I have for them.
The kids at the day camp are sweet, but I have had my fair share of dealing with some of the not-so sweet ones. Telling the boys not to wrestle is definitely something they do not agree with. One of the biggest hardships with a child was giving them multiple disciplinary chances again and again. Until, he chucked a tote of colored pencils at my head and further disciplinary actions were taken with him. In all honesty, experiencing things like this gets frustrating, but also helps me grow as a person.
For my senior year, I decided to participate in work-based learning. For work-based learning, I come to school for four periods every day, and then leave for work. My pathway for high school is child development, so I had an opportunity to work for the Walton Christian Church Preschool. It is such an amazing job I enjoy. For the preschool, I get to help children with their skills, while also having a good time. Preschool is definitely different from day camp because I have mostly been around children ages six to ten.
In my class, we only have six kids, and they are all at the age of four. So, this is very different for me. Two of the kids are very hyperactive and very outgoing, and the rest are more laid back and quiet. I like to work with these young children because they are quite interesting. Some of the things the kids say just throw me off sometimes, but it is also fun to listen and hear what goes on in their minds. I would say this job is definitely different from the day camp because camp is more about fun activities.
The main part of the job is helping children with their writing, teaching them to hold their pencil correctly, and making sure everything is cleaned and organized. I really enjoy working with children. I am thankful for the many opportunities I have been able to work with many children and watched them as they mature into older stages of their lives.