Of all the jobs I have had in my life one sticks in my head more than the rest. This job not only taught me discipline and punctuality, but it also taught me that some people are completely stupid and negligent of their children and themselves. During the normal work day, which lasted from noon until eight at night, I would sometime see over two hundred people in a day. Each of these people would put their lives into my hand to watch and protect from the 225,000 gallon danger that surrounded each one of them. I would literally guard their life. Lifeguarding was one of the most rewarding jobs for me because it taught me numerous things while I was on the stand and working around the pool. One thing that lifeguarding taught me is the importance of always being alert and observing my surrounding for possible danger and trouble. One instance …show more content…
The day was hot and sunny; I had been there for about 20 minutes, so I entered this lull of waiting for another lifeguard to come up in ten minutes. I suddenly noticed this young guy who had been struggling to move around in the shallow end start running towards the deep end. All of my attention was drawn to him. He jumped into the deep end so I quickly stood up to watch him and see if he was okay. Right when I stood up he began to struggle to stay afloat. “Are you okay? Do you need help?” is all I remembered yelling before I jumped in the water with clothes and all to save him. The distressed look on his face was terrifying to me so I can not imagine what the experience was like for him. When I had finally swam to him, he grabbed onto my rescue tube and an instant sign of relief came across his face. I swam the boy to the shallow end where he could touch the bottom. This one rescue showed me just how important my job was at that very moment. Each person that came to the pool was putting their life into the hands of each of the lifeguards that were responsible for watching over
A number of people are forced to respond to challenge throughout their lifetime. Response to challenge can be defined as an answer given in word or act to a demanding or difficult task. In the short story, "Lifeguard" by Barbara Scott, the protagonist, Chris, is an isolated teenager trying to cope with the numerous predicaments life bears upon him. Chris' father suddenly reappears after abandoning him years ago, which deeply affects him. Chris buries his pain in diving, perhaps because it is the only way he can conceal the hurt he feels within.
Being the head lifeguard I wanted all the lifeguards to feel as though we are a team and are only as good as our weakest teammate. As the head guard I wanted the lifeguards to understand each other’s strengths and weakness and to push each other when they see one another slacking. The chemistry between the lifeguards is good and improving every day. I put the lifeguard through drills just so I can see who needs help in what areas and so that we can all be efficient in the requirements of being a lifeguard. I tell the life guards to take their jobs serious because anything can happen at any minute of the day. When the life guards open or close they have a sheet that they check off the opening and closing procedures in which they work as a team to complete the task at hand. I create the schedule for the lifeguards every Sunday. The schedule is based on the performance of the lifeguards in drills, there communication and when they are not being over watched by me to see how they handle situations. I tell the lifeguards that if they are going to be late or can’t make it to work to send me a text or call so that I can get a guard to replace them, if the lifeguard does not send me a text or call and misses or is late to work they are penalized with getting there hours cut and being sent home. We are trying to teach the life guards the
Most jobs require working with others and at times dealing with difficult customers. Getting a job teaches teens to develop good people skills. It is important for me to remain patient when caring for the elderly. I have to encourage them to be independent as possible even when it takes extra time. For example, when transporting residents I have to allow them to transport themselves although I could get them where they need to go much quicker. I also deal with people who are not always the friendliest. I have been cussed at and even hit trying to care for elders at the nursing home but I have learned to stay patient during those situations. It is not always easy but when I feel myself getting upset or frustrated I remind myself that these people are dependent on me to take care of them. Getting a job teaches teens to work well with others which is a necessary life
The life lessons that lifeguarding has taught me are invaluable. Some obvious ones are time management, getting along with co-workers, balancing work, school and other extracurricular activities. What did not occur to me before I became a lifeguard was all the different ages I would be dealing with at a community center. Any typical day at work I am with children as young as three months old and adults almost 100 years old.
Even though it may not sound like it, my most memorable experience is working for a home care company. The company I work for is called Residential Physicians Association. I have been working with this company for 2 years as a Medical Assistant. My role is assisting doctors in making home visits. These home visits are more relaxed than hospital visits because the patients are in the comfort of their own home. It is a rewarding feeling to see how grateful patients are to have a service come out to their house. Taking vitals and drawing blood is my most learned skill I have learned with this job. Doing these small procedures gives me hope that I can one day succeed in major medical surgeries. The opportunity of this job has shaped me to find my calling while enjoying every day of it. Memorable experiences are created every day without realizing, while creating memories is important, it is also important that you are
A little boy jumped into the townpool with no lifejacket on. The lifeguard suddenly jumped right into the water. The little boy was in the deep end of the water that was twelve feet. The lifeguard dove in and grabbed the boy out of the water in seconds. The little boy was alive. He knew how to hold his breath but not swim. The lifeguard was a hero and saved him. Otherwise, the boy would have died. It is clear that people should have the right to have rescue services rescue them when they put themselves at risk. This is a controversial topic because there are many arguable opinions about this. Others believe, rescue services shouldn’t go out and rescue them. For example if you’re trying to rescue two people you are risking three lives. More
The National Crew is quite demanding from what I have heard from friend who have been apart of the program. You need to be able to withstand several weeks of 56 hour work weeks, with unideal conditions, in a wide variety of difficult environments.
With around 650 people in the water at once, I learned to scan the area of the water quickly and efficiently and to never focus solely on one specific person; on specific occasions, I was too ready and entered the water, only to find that a patron was faking a drowning incident for attention. Additionally, I learned how to comfort a frightened child who had almost lost their life, or who was bleeding after falling and scraping their leg. Lastly, I had to assert myself over patrons who refused to listen, and use my authority to remove people from the pool. The experience from my (so far) one year of lifeguarding has alredy provided me with skills in preparation for a brighter and more successful
The timer is ticking down from 30 seconds. I am sitting on my inner tube at the top of the water slide. There is a person nearly shouting at me. It’s the the lifeguard stating the rules. “Rule #1 Keep your ha...”, my attention shifts and I notice a passing bird and watch it as it retreats into the woods. I look up at the clock, 20 seconds remain on the counter before it is safe for me to go down the slide and not collide with the previous water slide rider. I hear the roar of the water. I rub my finger over the rubber tube and it squeaks beneath my skin. I note how unusual it is to feel rubber on my wet skin. Someone is nearly yelling now, it’s the lifeguard, “Rule #2 Do not ge...”, my attention strays back to the black hole in front of me as it emits a deep rumbling roar and the screams of the previous occupants.
I listened and did as he said. I pushed forward and started my way down the steep slide. The force of the water carried me forward at a fast speed and I was thrown down the slide. I opened my eyes and saw that I was no longer touching the slide, but flying above it. The wave of water had thrown me so fast that I was in the air over the slide. I closed my eyes in fear and I hit the slide with a bang! I slid right into the pool with a big SPLASH. Half a second later I was submerged in the blue liquid terrified, wondering if I was hurt. I sank to the bottom, then shot up off of the ground with my feet pushing towards the air above. I wasn't the best swimmer, but I made my best effort to swim to the side of the pool and to safety, I looked around for my Mom, as I looked around I noticed the lifeguard watching me just in case. I made it to the side and pulled myself out of the pool. My mom asked me if I was okay. I told her I was fine and we continued through the day and eventually
As I jumped into the water, I only had one thing on my mind: saving the victim. As I swam towards her I saw her head slip under. I called for a backboard before I dove beneath the surface to bring her head above the water. I
My head went back, and my feet popped up. I felt the frigid water seep into my hair, and soak my scalp. I heard my mom’s soft voice trying to keep me calm, and reminding me to keep my bellybutton up to the air as if some puppet master was holding it up by a string. Every time my mom tried to let me float by myself, my feet would begin to sink. It was as if I was a weight on a fishing line pulling it down into the dark abyss. I couldn’t seem to stay relaxed, I was as stiff as a two by four. That fire was still burning my inner forest deep within me. I remember startling myself out of the float, because I did not feel my mom’s hands supporting me anymore. I scrambled for footing on the bottom of the pool floor feeling the rough pool floor slip past my toes a couple times before I got the traction to stand up. I was kind of confused for a moment as I tried to get the water out of my eyes and nose. My family was now all out in the pool area, and I realized the moment I have been dreading for the past few years of my short life was here and I knew it. My family was going to have me jump off the diving board, in hopes that it would dissipate my excruciating fear of water. My heart was beginning to pound through my
Lifeguarding is definitely not the job for everybody. This is not just because of the chest crushing anxiety of dealing with drowning victims or all the exquisite and mind boggling training that you have to remember, but the seasons in Arizona are also a make or break factor in this field of work. Seasons are the ultimate test of the human body’s mental strength and some people are just not cut out for it.
The lifeguards of the YMCA-YWCA are a unique group of young energetic people. We will look closer into this group through the eyes of a sociologist. We will study the goals, hierarchal, argot and other factors social factors within this profession.
Lifeguard classes were 2 days that consisted of CPR training, swimming laps, and learning rescues. When we first began, there were three of us sitting at a table on the pool deck with an outdated rolling TV. I was handed a 100-page lifeguarding manual my eyes bulged out of my head, the butterflies in my stomach multiplied. Looking through the book, watching rescues and talking through every question I had calmed my nerves. But the statistics of drowning still haunted my mind, 360,000 people died from drowning in 2015 (WHO). All though at the YMCA in Red Oak hasn’t had a drowning,