As you can tell by the title, camp is over. It's a very sad moment, but there was a lot that happened before the last day.
These last two weeks have been crazy! From July 4th week to the week after everything has been all over the place. On July 2nd Mrs. Huff came for the pictures and video, but the only thing I wish they would do would be to stay longer. I had really cute moments with the kids without having to make them and I would have loved for them to capture those moments at random during the whole day. July 4th week I only worked two days because I went to my grandparents house for the holiday. However, during those 5 days off I missed my little campers so much. I would catch myself thinking about the Y at random times. It's almost sad how much I enjoy being there.
The last three weeks of the summer camp has been soccer camp. I addressed this change in one of my lasts posts and it came as I thought it would -- HOT. Soccer is an outdoor sport which some of the kids didn't seem to understand. (In all fairness to the kids I was dying in the heat too) It was slightly more annoying than being in basketball camp when we were in the nice cool air-conditioned gym. We definitely enjoyed our indoor breaks and pool time much more during these weeks.
Looking back on camp in general, I loved it. I loved the kids that I got to bond with (one of whom I became her designated second mother) and I loved the other Y employees that I worked with. The Y in general just gives off feelings of friendliness, liveliness, and community. I love this Y because it really is a community center unlike some of the other Ys that are more focused on the workout area than the community outreach. The teenagers and the seniors hang out there and everyone gets to know each other and the staff. Gooch my boss for camp especially radiated this feeling of community. I don't think there was one kid that passed by whom he didn't know. It was kind of ridiculous.
One thing I also love about the Y is that I feel really needed when I'm there. I feel like I'm making a big difference in the lives of the kids, but also the lives of the other adults (if that's what I am) that I get to work with. During camp I felt needed being the only girl counselor and dealing with the kids in general. Having a third person there besides the employees the Y has for the camp helps keep it more calm and easy for everybody else. In my intern duties I felt very helpful to Kelly with all the packets and flyers for the Tomato 5K.
Even though this might sound like a farewell to the Y, do not be dismayed -- I still have a few more days and another whole week. :)
Monday, July 15, 2013
Monday, June 24, 2013
Tomato 5K To-Do List
This is a picture of the Tomato 5K to-do list that I talked about in my blog yesterday.I thought one might want a visual representation of it. I checked off more things today under the first box-- Sponsor thank you packets.
Also just a reminder if you would like to register for the 5K you can here -->> Register for the Tomato 5K
Sunday, June 23, 2013
The Duties of An Intern and Camp Shenanigans
This week has been my second week at the Margaret Maddox YMCA and I continue to love it.
This week has been a little more crazy because this week I was also attending the Girls' Leadership Conference on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday so I had to work around that. On Tuesday I had told my boss Gooch that I wouldn't be able to come because of the conference, but the conference ended a little earlier than expected and I got to go to work. They were very surprised and delighted to see me come and I was very delighted to be there. It was really fun to just hang out with the kids and counselors on pool day and then do some work around the Y.
On Tuesday after camp was over I worked with Kelly who is in charge of the Tomato 5K on August 10th. Kelly shares an office with my contact Johari so that's how I met her. Johari was out of the office a lot this week for different stuff at the time when I go in there to help from around 3-5. So I helped Kelly with different stuff for the 5K. To begin with Kelly had made a list of all the stuff that needed to get done for the 5K and put it on the wall and I have now made it my mission to personally finish all the tasks on the list. My first task was labeled "info on machines". This confused me a little but kelly explained it as those little information cards that they put on the treadmills and ellipticals that advertise different stuff around the Y. So to complete my first task I cut out the info cards from the print paper then I laminated them, then I cut them out of the laminate and I put them on all the machines. It was a pretty chill task and I enjoyed doing it. Also while I was working in the copy room cutting and laminating there was always someone playing the piano that is down that hall from it. I got to listen to my own little piano concert from the first guy who had some very impressive skills on the paino and the second guy playing became another new friend to me. He was my new friend because on the Monday before he had been playing the exact same song so I went out and confronted him about the song and I told him I thoroughly enjoyed his piano playing and for him to continue and to play louder. I really liked doing the cards and listening to the music because tt was nice to do something for Kelly and feel accomplished when she checked that off the list.
On Wednesday after camp Johari was MOD which is Manager of the Day which basically means that her shift, from 12-4, she had to be at the front desk to help around the Y. So that's where I ended up-- the front desk. If you don't me personally or if you haven't picked it up from my blog, I am a very extroverted person and I love meeting new people and making new friends so the front desk was a perfect place for me. I had been at the front desk with Johari before on her shifts there, but I had not been as invested as I was on Wednesday. I had already met the people at the front desk before so it was nice to be with them and to learn new things. I learned how to put people's names in that didnt have a card, to give people new cards when had lost there's, to put guests into the system, how to give guest passes, to answer the phone, to transfer people on the phone, and just the genreral things around the front desk. To say the least it was so fun. I felt almost in my element at the front desk when I got to talk to the members and hang out with the other employees like Sierra. It really was so cool to continue my view of the Y, that literally everyone that works there is so cool. They are so nice and they put up with me and like to teach me stuff even when I was really nervous to answer the phone and just starting laughing before I answered it.I enjoyed the front desk so much that my mom had to actually call me and ask me where I was because it was 5:45 and I wasn't home yet. I told her I was having a fun time at the front desk and just had to decided to stay and help longer then my normal hours at the Y. I ended up staying till 6:30 ( while I ussually get off at 5) because I liked it so much.
On Thursday after camp I did some office research for Kelly. The Tomato 5K is the biggest fundraiser for the Maddox Family YMCA. It is on August 10th and kicks off the Tomato Art Festival for East Nashville. (In case you would like to sign up and support this WONDERFUL Y, here is the link-- Register for the 5K ) My job on Thursday was to look up place to contact to promote the Kids Fun Run which is a 1 mile run for kids before the 5K starts. This was a pretty calm activity, but I did end up finding the event page on Nashville Parent and added the Kids Fun Run to it to promote it in their August issue. So that task got checked off the list too.This day was also pretty calm because I had to leave at 4:30 to go to my other volunteering I do at the Christian Women's Job Corp in Franklin. But (funny story) while I was walking out to leave I ran into the other teenager that I work with, Nick, and he was on the clock in the teen center and asked if I could get him some food, so after I went to McDonalds and got him some dinner and brought it back I left for volunteering.
Friday was an exhausting day for Camp. I had the task of filling up 180 water balloons by myself in the morning. That was an exhausting experiences that ended up with numb fingers and bug bites. It kind of drained me to be outside for an hour and a half doing it, but once I was back inside and sat down I felt a lot better and got back to my normal self. Also when I got to play with the balloons and watched the kids play with them later it made me feel a lot happier about the situation. Friday was also the last day that Nick would be working with us because next week starts soccer camp and these first three weeks have been basketball camp.So it was kind of sad, but the kids and me and my boss will see him around the Y a lot and we get another guy to help out. It'll be fun with the new guy too. On Friday after camp I got to test out my artistic abilities. My third task to check off the list was "tomatoes around the center". This meant that I went down to one of the workout studios and wrote Tomato 5K on the windows and drew some tomatoes. I'm not a very artistic person, but I am a perfectionist so it looked good at the end. My hands were covered in window paint by the end, but it was a fun little art project to do. With that I had checked off three tasks from my list.
This coming week I hope to finish the To-Do list. I am a little worried about next week with starting soccer camp because we will be outside for the time that we had usually been inside in the gym. So it will be a very hot week to say the least, but I'm really excited to continue camp and see if I can finish the list.
This week has been a little more crazy because this week I was also attending the Girls' Leadership Conference on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday so I had to work around that. On Tuesday I had told my boss Gooch that I wouldn't be able to come because of the conference, but the conference ended a little earlier than expected and I got to go to work. They were very surprised and delighted to see me come and I was very delighted to be there. It was really fun to just hang out with the kids and counselors on pool day and then do some work around the Y.
On Tuesday after camp was over I worked with Kelly who is in charge of the Tomato 5K on August 10th. Kelly shares an office with my contact Johari so that's how I met her. Johari was out of the office a lot this week for different stuff at the time when I go in there to help from around 3-5. So I helped Kelly with different stuff for the 5K. To begin with Kelly had made a list of all the stuff that needed to get done for the 5K and put it on the wall and I have now made it my mission to personally finish all the tasks on the list. My first task was labeled "info on machines". This confused me a little but kelly explained it as those little information cards that they put on the treadmills and ellipticals that advertise different stuff around the Y. So to complete my first task I cut out the info cards from the print paper then I laminated them, then I cut them out of the laminate and I put them on all the machines. It was a pretty chill task and I enjoyed doing it. Also while I was working in the copy room cutting and laminating there was always someone playing the piano that is down that hall from it. I got to listen to my own little piano concert from the first guy who had some very impressive skills on the paino and the second guy playing became another new friend to me. He was my new friend because on the Monday before he had been playing the exact same song so I went out and confronted him about the song and I told him I thoroughly enjoyed his piano playing and for him to continue and to play louder. I really liked doing the cards and listening to the music because tt was nice to do something for Kelly and feel accomplished when she checked that off the list.
On Wednesday after camp Johari was MOD which is Manager of the Day which basically means that her shift, from 12-4, she had to be at the front desk to help around the Y. So that's where I ended up-- the front desk. If you don't me personally or if you haven't picked it up from my blog, I am a very extroverted person and I love meeting new people and making new friends so the front desk was a perfect place for me. I had been at the front desk with Johari before on her shifts there, but I had not been as invested as I was on Wednesday. I had already met the people at the front desk before so it was nice to be with them and to learn new things. I learned how to put people's names in that didnt have a card, to give people new cards when had lost there's, to put guests into the system, how to give guest passes, to answer the phone, to transfer people on the phone, and just the genreral things around the front desk. To say the least it was so fun. I felt almost in my element at the front desk when I got to talk to the members and hang out with the other employees like Sierra. It really was so cool to continue my view of the Y, that literally everyone that works there is so cool. They are so nice and they put up with me and like to teach me stuff even when I was really nervous to answer the phone and just starting laughing before I answered it.I enjoyed the front desk so much that my mom had to actually call me and ask me where I was because it was 5:45 and I wasn't home yet. I told her I was having a fun time at the front desk and just had to decided to stay and help longer then my normal hours at the Y. I ended up staying till 6:30 ( while I ussually get off at 5) because I liked it so much.
On Thursday after camp I did some office research for Kelly. The Tomato 5K is the biggest fundraiser for the Maddox Family YMCA. It is on August 10th and kicks off the Tomato Art Festival for East Nashville. (In case you would like to sign up and support this WONDERFUL Y, here is the link-- Register for the 5K ) My job on Thursday was to look up place to contact to promote the Kids Fun Run which is a 1 mile run for kids before the 5K starts. This was a pretty calm activity, but I did end up finding the event page on Nashville Parent and added the Kids Fun Run to it to promote it in their August issue. So that task got checked off the list too.This day was also pretty calm because I had to leave at 4:30 to go to my other volunteering I do at the Christian Women's Job Corp in Franklin. But (funny story) while I was walking out to leave I ran into the other teenager that I work with, Nick, and he was on the clock in the teen center and asked if I could get him some food, so after I went to McDonalds and got him some dinner and brought it back I left for volunteering.
Friday was an exhausting day for Camp. I had the task of filling up 180 water balloons by myself in the morning. That was an exhausting experiences that ended up with numb fingers and bug bites. It kind of drained me to be outside for an hour and a half doing it, but once I was back inside and sat down I felt a lot better and got back to my normal self. Also when I got to play with the balloons and watched the kids play with them later it made me feel a lot happier about the situation. Friday was also the last day that Nick would be working with us because next week starts soccer camp and these first three weeks have been basketball camp.So it was kind of sad, but the kids and me and my boss will see him around the Y a lot and we get another guy to help out. It'll be fun with the new guy too. On Friday after camp I got to test out my artistic abilities. My third task to check off the list was "tomatoes around the center". This meant that I went down to one of the workout studios and wrote Tomato 5K on the windows and drew some tomatoes. I'm not a very artistic person, but I am a perfectionist so it looked good at the end. My hands were covered in window paint by the end, but it was a fun little art project to do. With that I had checked off three tasks from my list.
This coming week I hope to finish the To-Do list. I am a little worried about next week with starting soccer camp because we will be outside for the time that we had usually been inside in the gym. So it will be a very hot week to say the least, but I'm really excited to continue camp and see if I can finish the list.
Pictures form the Week:
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| Gooch helping the little kids play basketball |
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| Nick and Ta'Marrion being silly in our sunglasses |
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| My wonderfully artistic Tomato 5K |
Saturday, June 15, 2013
First Full Week
This week has been my first full week working at the Maddox YMCA. It's been very interesting and very entertaining to say the least. With this full week, I have really started to settle into a routine at the Y. All through the week I have felt that I have been doing so much for the camp, the Y, and the kids; I really have a sense of purpose and worth working here. I feel that I am very much positively impacting the lives of the kids, but that feeling was affirmed by one of the moms of the campers one morning when she came in and said that her son just couldn't stop talking about Miss Abby ( what the kids call me) and she said you're really having an impact on him. I think this was on Wednesday when she said this at camp check-in and it just affirmed the feelings I had been having all last week and this week. In short, I love my job.
The camp is set up where everyone comes at 9 am and camp ends at 3 pm. Till about 9:30 we all wait in the gym for all the kids to get there and the other kids just have free time. Then on Mondays and Wednesdays we stay in the gym for two hours till lunch time. These two hours have held some really fun times with the kids. We play dribbling games, shooting games, and have free time ( it's a basketball game). I usually help with the let's say less skilled kids because my boss is very good at basketball and is always with the older kids and the other teenager who works with us is a college basketball player at Trevecca University. So I'm very much under-qualified in the basketball teaching area compared to them. But I love working with the littler kids, they get so excited over winning a simple shooting game and they are just so darn cute.
On Tuesdays and Thursdays there is a dance class in the gym from 9:30 to 10:30 we can't be in there and we go to the Teen Center, oh the Teen Center. The Teen Center is one of the coolest places I've ever seen in a Y. It has a Wii, an Xbox 360, a pool table, a ping pong table, a Foosball table, and three TVs. It really is made for teens to hang out and just chill there. And trust me they do. There are always teenagers and kids hanging out and playing the Xbox. Also in the Teen Center there is a computer lab that the kids play Cool Math Games, yes that's the title of the website, and other kids games. On Fridays we split the camp into two groups and the groups switch between the Teen Center and the gym for the two hours. Then at 11:30 we eat lunch together everyday. Lunch time with the kids has been one of the most enjoyable times. I just get to talk to the kids and hang out. I've been trying to get together to have lunch with some of the other Turner Fellows in my area, but I really cant bring myself to leave the kids for that precious time I have with them.
After lunch everyday I lead journal time. This time is part of the literacy department where I give them a question and they have papers that have space to write a couple sentences and draw a picture. These questions have included: what do you want to be when you grow up, what are you thankful for, what would you do with a million dollars, and how have you helped someone. After we write for a while, I always get some kids to share their answers and they are so cute and sometimes shockingly insightful. One boy said he would give all the million dollars to the Y and multiple children were thankful for their counselors at the Y ( me and the two other guys I work with). After journal time we have devotional time where the kids here the bible and talk about God. But after journal time for me on Mondays and Wednesday I tutor a boy in the camp. He's about a year behind in reading, but it's fun to teach him to read.
On Tuesdays and Thursdays we go swimming after devotional. Swimming is crazy. On last Tuesday all the counselors went swimming and we were so tired afterwards. We threw the kids in the pool and we were basically attacked by the kids all the time. On Friday my boss decided to have a water balloon fight after lunch with the kids. We filled up all the 150 water balloons and it was crazy. Then we played kickball outside and shot each other with water guns. I ended up the wettest one coming back inside at the end because I had somehow gotten to be the target of the garden hose that one of the guy counselors got a hold of. But even though ever piece of clothing I had on was dripping with water and I had to wear that for the rest of the day, it was extremely fun.
My whole week has been extremely fun. I love the kids; I love the Y; I love counselors; I love my job. It would take a lot for someone to convince me that this was not the best job in the world.
The camp is set up where everyone comes at 9 am and camp ends at 3 pm. Till about 9:30 we all wait in the gym for all the kids to get there and the other kids just have free time. Then on Mondays and Wednesdays we stay in the gym for two hours till lunch time. These two hours have held some really fun times with the kids. We play dribbling games, shooting games, and have free time ( it's a basketball game). I usually help with the let's say less skilled kids because my boss is very good at basketball and is always with the older kids and the other teenager who works with us is a college basketball player at Trevecca University. So I'm very much under-qualified in the basketball teaching area compared to them. But I love working with the littler kids, they get so excited over winning a simple shooting game and they are just so darn cute.
On Tuesdays and Thursdays there is a dance class in the gym from 9:30 to 10:30 we can't be in there and we go to the Teen Center, oh the Teen Center. The Teen Center is one of the coolest places I've ever seen in a Y. It has a Wii, an Xbox 360, a pool table, a ping pong table, a Foosball table, and three TVs. It really is made for teens to hang out and just chill there. And trust me they do. There are always teenagers and kids hanging out and playing the Xbox. Also in the Teen Center there is a computer lab that the kids play Cool Math Games, yes that's the title of the website, and other kids games. On Fridays we split the camp into two groups and the groups switch between the Teen Center and the gym for the two hours. Then at 11:30 we eat lunch together everyday. Lunch time with the kids has been one of the most enjoyable times. I just get to talk to the kids and hang out. I've been trying to get together to have lunch with some of the other Turner Fellows in my area, but I really cant bring myself to leave the kids for that precious time I have with them.
After lunch everyday I lead journal time. This time is part of the literacy department where I give them a question and they have papers that have space to write a couple sentences and draw a picture. These questions have included: what do you want to be when you grow up, what are you thankful for, what would you do with a million dollars, and how have you helped someone. After we write for a while, I always get some kids to share their answers and they are so cute and sometimes shockingly insightful. One boy said he would give all the million dollars to the Y and multiple children were thankful for their counselors at the Y ( me and the two other guys I work with). After journal time we have devotional time where the kids here the bible and talk about God. But after journal time for me on Mondays and Wednesday I tutor a boy in the camp. He's about a year behind in reading, but it's fun to teach him to read.
On Tuesdays and Thursdays we go swimming after devotional. Swimming is crazy. On last Tuesday all the counselors went swimming and we were so tired afterwards. We threw the kids in the pool and we were basically attacked by the kids all the time. On Friday my boss decided to have a water balloon fight after lunch with the kids. We filled up all the 150 water balloons and it was crazy. Then we played kickball outside and shot each other with water guns. I ended up the wettest one coming back inside at the end because I had somehow gotten to be the target of the garden hose that one of the guy counselors got a hold of. But even though ever piece of clothing I had on was dripping with water and I had to wear that for the rest of the day, it was extremely fun.
My whole week has been extremely fun. I love the kids; I love the Y; I love counselors; I love my job. It would take a lot for someone to convince me that this was not the best job in the world.
Pictures from the Week:
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| Me and Gooch, my boss. |
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| Gooch in the Water with the kids |
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| Kickball outside |
Thursday, June 6, 2013
First Day on the Job
First Day Pictures!
Let's Fold Flyers.
But in all seriousness, a great first day at work. I got there in a pouring rain storm, learned the tutoring model, met almost every employee at the Margaret Maddox Family YMCA, ate lunch with the kiddies, did a daily literacy journal of "My hero is ...", folded flyers, played kickball, folded t-shirts, and officially learned how to check members in with the scanner.
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