Wednesday, March 4, 2009

I am a Lifegaurd

Original Diagnostic:
“All work and no play”. I’m not sure when or how that phrase became popular but I can tell you that it does not pertain to everyone and every job. For some, it’s like “no work and all play”. As far as my favorite job yet, it was an even trade.

In April 2008, I applied for a lifeguarding position at Ocean Breeze Water Park. My thoughts at the time were that I’d get paid to sit around and get a good tan. Turns out I was wrong. I never knew learning how to save someone’s life, or just keeping the public safe in general, could be fun, and at the same time very compelling.

Upon my first day of lifeguarding at Ocean Breeze, I had never felt more scared knowing how many lives are potentially in my hands. I wasn’t exactly confident in myself so I decided to study a lot more and I practiced my skills whenever I got the chance.

Waking up early was never a problem for me considering everyone knew the sooner you got to work, the better spots you were entitled. Plus we were allowed to ride everything before the park opened. Granted the water was freezing that early in the morning but it was fun nonetheless. We even rode everything at our training which was every Tuesday. All of the fun brought the many eighty-six lifeguards exceptionally close but it wasn’t all about making friends. I met some pretty nice people while I was on duty.

As a lifeguard, it is your responsibility to enforce park rules and ensure the safety of all guests. Although not all guests were rule abiding and were quite rude, it always felt good when people commented you on what a great job you were doing, or thanked you directly for helping them or a family member. Just knowing that you’ve done your job right and that you’ve met your boss’s expectations and even they compliment you on the work you’re doing, is a good feeling.

I walked away from Ocean Breeze in September as a much better, well-rounded person. The many friends I made, the wonderful people I met, the few scars on my foot, the life-long memories, all of that isn’t found at any place of work. I learned so much from being there. Right now I currently have another job lifeguarding at the YMCA but I fully intend on returning to Ocean Breeze Water Park this summer and for summers to come. That is until I get my dream job of becoming a nurse. As it stands, Ocean Breeze is the best job I have had so far in my short nineteen years of life.

Revised Diagnostic:



“All work and no play”. I’m not sure when or how that phrase became popular but I can tell you that it does not pertain to everyone and every job. For some, it’s like “no work and all play”. As far as the best job I’ve had, it was an even trade. I got to play while I worked.

In April 2008, I applied for a lifeguarding position at Ocean Breeze Water Park. My thoughts at the time were that I’d get paid to sit around and get a good tan. Turns out I was wrong. I never knew learning how to save someone’s life, or just keeping the public safe in general, could be fun, and at the same time so intense.

Upon my first day of lifeguarding at Ocean Breeze, I felt so terrified thinking of how many lives are potentially in my hands. I wasn’t exactly confident in myself so I decided I needed to study a lot more and I practiced my skills whenever I got the chance. I even got to work early on most days to ask my supervisors for extra help, which paid off very well when my first rescue was a spinal injury.

A young man fell off of the rolling log and hit his head on the floor. When he amerged from the water I saw his head and face were covered in blood. Without any hesitation, I blew my whistle, jumped off the stand and quickly put my gloves on. I could see he was in shock so while I was getting my equipment I started questioning him just like I was suppose to. I wiped his face and eyes so he could see, lightly patted the gash on his head to make sure there was no foreign object in it, and applied pressure with the gauze pad. I held him in the position we were suppose to until extra help arrived and took him to seek medical help. I was rewarded the next morning when all the supervisors called me in early.

Waking up early was never a problem for me considering everyone knew the sooner you got to work, the more fun spots you were entitled. Plus we were allowed to ride everything before the park opened. Granted the water was freezing that early in the morning, but it was fun nonetheless. We even rode everything at our in service which was every Tuesday. All of the fun brought the many eighty-six lifeguards exceptionally close but it wasn’t all about making friends. A lot of the guests were very nice and I met some great people while I was on duty.

As a lifeguard, it is your responsibility to enforce park rules and ensure the safety of all guests. Although not all guests were rule abiding and were quite rude, it always felt good when people commented you on what a great job you were doing, or thanked you directly for helping them or a family member. Just knowing that you’ve done your job right and that you’ve met your boss’s expectations and even they compliment you on the work you’re doing, is a good feeling.

I walked away from Ocean Breeze in September as a much better, well-rounded person. The many friends I made, the wonderful people I met, the few scars on my foot, the life-long memories. All of that isn’t found at any place of work. I learned so much from being there. Right now I currently have another job lifeguarding at the YMCA. I was planning on returning to Ocean Breeze Water Park this summer but it just won’t fit into my busy schedule. I’m very content with my job now and it is just as rewarding as Ocean Breeze. As it stands, Ocean Breeze is the best job I have had so far in my short nineteen years of life.

1 comment:

  1. Read both the blog and revised diagnostic essay prompts and contact me immediately, please.

    ReplyDelete