Employment:

 

Kamloops Community YMCA-YWCA:

February 2017-Present

I began my employment at the YMCA in the after school care program in the third year of my bachelor’s degree. One of my friends and another graduate of the TRU B-Ed program told me about her job and I had to join. The program is run through the Downtown Y, and in it’s prime there were two old houses that had been converted into day-care centres. We drove on little busses every day to pick the kids up and took them to the location for the afternoon. Through all the weather and other variables that hit, we never failed to be outside being active. As the school year let out I joined on the summer camp program run through both the downtown and John Tod Y. I fell in love with the job over the first summer, not feeling the rush of energy and excitement of a camp job since 2012. This summer, COVID-19 granted, will be 4th summer at the Y. It will be my 3rd summer as a supervisor and program planner. This job feels like the closest piece to teaching that I can get until my certification. I have my group of kids, I watch them grow, I watch them mature, and develop interests and opinions. I feel so close to my campers, and I wouldn’t trade this job for the world. I love it so much so that when I began my schooling in the B-Ed program I began volunteering for free twice a week with the kids for swimming to make sure I was still around to see them even when I couldn’t work. I implore every B-Ed student to take a job like this, immerse yourself in your work with kids, make a difference in lives, be a support system, keep your inner child alive and well. It is so much more rewarding than you think.

 

Purdy’s Chocolatier

August 12th, 2013- Present

Now, I know what you must be thinking, a chocolate store? How does that relate even minutely to teaching? Let me tell you, it relates in more ways than you know. Working consistently with the same team for five of my nearly seven years, I can tell you that it takes patience and effort. In any teaching job, you will have your team of teachers and admin staff. If you are unable to work well or at least practice respect for your team, your teaching life will be bleak. To be able to work on a team with others and maintain respectful relationships with people of all walks of life is a skill I feel is integral to a cohesive team of educators as well as in customer service. Being able to sell product confidently and maintain running and updated knowledge of products and procedures is a mandatory skill, however, helps immensely with teaching. Being able to remember facts, update yourself, and stay current will help you in your day to day life as a teacher. Now customers are a whole different story. Now, I say this lightly, but a customer not getting their way and a student having an outburst are very similar in my experience. A student having an outburst may be targeting you though the cause and issue at hand may have nothing to do with you however you have to be the one to handle it in the current moment. The same can be said about customer service, a customer angry that a product is sold out or is defective may take their anger out on you, though the root of the problem stems from another source. To be able to handle stressful situations on your toes while remaining calm is something that I thank god for every day that I have managed to pick it up. It makes all the difference in a job. Working customer service for the last 8 years has prepared me more than I know for my future career.

Tutoring

2013-2014 & 2020

Throughout my life as both high school and post-secondary student, I have been a tutor. All the instances I have encountered in my tutoring career have helped with teaching immensely. At the beginning of my tutoring jobs, I found my passion for teaching sparked. I tutored in the learning centre during grade twelve and fell in love. The students I worked with were incredible and taught me so much about myself. I gained so many skills and am very lucky to have had an opportunity like that. Presently I am a tutor for a young man in grade 11. I help him with his studying abilities and work with him to foster good time management and test-taking abilities. He is an incredible young man and teaching him has helped solidify my need to teach in a high school setting at some point in my career.