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.

Pictures form the Week:

Gooch helping the little kids play basketball

Nick and Ta'Marrion being silly in our sunglasses

My wonderfully artistic Tomato 5K