Working with kids reminds me of how slow I use to think time was moving. They complain a lot. That it's not the weekend yet. It's not summer yet. And on and on.
Well I'm sitting over here, and I can't believe it's Friday already. It feels like I just started this job, but I had to sit down with my mentor, Kim, today and fill out my 4th week paperwork. 24 very short days ago, I started at Growing Kids. 10 days ago, I submitted my letter of intent to my director, Jenn, for the Camp Director position. 4 days ago she actually had a spare minute to tell me that I got it!
She had a spare minute today as well, to tell me my new pay rate and slip in the fact that this type of position usually starts as a trial basis. I should have had to turn in some ideas and paperwork and such, to be fully established in the job. But my constant anxiety about not giving enough information led me to write her examples of my ideas for camp in my letter of intent.
Apparently, with a letter of intent, you are just suppose to say that you are interested in the position, and list a few experiences that led you to believe you would be capable of fulfilling its requirements. I did this. I did the very modern, technologically advanced thing, of finding an example letter on Google, as well as a template on Google Docs. I put in all the information that a normal human would have provided.
Then, I went past that one page letter to write three more pages, with some basic bullet points spelling out the themes I had come up with for camp. Through memories of camp weekends at Opportunity Enterprise Respite, some exploration on Pinterest, and my generally childlike disposition, I came up with themes for eight of the nine weeks of summer. Each with anywhere from six to twelve bullet points of ideas for field trips, games, crafts, etc. that fit each of my themes. So Jenn said that since my letter had been so extra, she didn't think she needed anything else from me that would show I can handle this responsibility.
I have barely begun the planning process. Part of me keeps telling myself that there's plenty of time to plan this camp. It's February, summer is ages and ages away, right? Wrong. Summer starts in just thirteen weeks. And since Tuesday, I have had approximately three hours to work on camp. Because I'm still the bus driver. I still have to do an amazing amount of things and be at many, many places, and on time, before eight o'clock in the morning. I have to help keep ratio in all rooms until every teacher is in the building, around 9am (Their start times are staggered, so that someone is there early, and someone is there late, but two of them are there for the busiest time, midday), Then I go around to our twelve classrooms and see if any of our 24 teachers need a bathroom break, or supplies from the closets, or copies made. Once all that is finally done, I can sneak away to the resource room to work on the computer and get this thing planned. But before I know it, It's 12:30pm and I have to take my lunch or I won't be back in time for the afternoon route, which lasts from 1:30-3:45pm. A few times this week I've had to stay after my route, which is nice, because it builds overtime, but the company prefers we stick to our 40.
Despite the busyness, and some kids that are not my favorites, I am still really loving this job. Apparently enough to settle in some roots and promise to be there until at least the end of the summer. This could be my second longest job. Right now, second longest is Right At Home, with almost three months.
I really like how busy and fast-pace this job it. The shifts mostly fly by. It was busy before, with just being the bus driver and a float. Now I'm a director as well. Besides summer camp, I will also be in charge of our upcoming spring break camp, which has some basic things planned by our assistant director, Alyssa. Then we have fall and winter break camps that I will be in charge of as well. So I will be plenty busy.
Just in case though, I should probably find something to keep me busy during my free time. Like college! I have posted updates to my Facebook page, and I mentioned in my very first blog that I want to go back to school. Well, it's happening! I applied to Purdue and got in. I filled out my Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and it got approved. When going over my aid package on their website, I came across some information that I missed the last time I was in school. I knew that I had gotten a Pell Grant, but for some reason I thought it only applied to that first year that I attended college. I guess I thought that I would have to reapply or something the next year to have it again.
Nope. That is not how that works. Pell Grants can be used for up to six years of college, where you are enrolled for at least 12 credit hours. I was only planning on taking a class or two at a time, but depending on the subjects, maybe I could manage four. The last time I was considered a full-time student, I had to take five classes. At that same time, I chose to be independent and move out. That led to me working 60+ hours a week of shifts of ever-changing length, that started at many different times.
Every time I go back to school, when we have the first class and are going over the syllabus, at least one, if not more, of my professors would say something along the lines of, for every hour you spend in the classroom, you should spend three hours studying.
I'll be honest, part of the reason I'm bad at college is because I rarely studied. I never had to study in high school, so I don't really know how. I don't know which of the many different methods of studying works best for me. In high school, we had the block system, so classes were longer, like college. That's what they always told us, we had blocks so that we would get use to how long a college class was, and the fact that you wouldn't have all your classes in one day. But we did not cover nearly as much material in a high school block than we do in a college class. We don't get to spend that free time doing our homework. There is rarely any free time, and if we happen to finish early, some professors just let you leave, some just start the next chapter.
Getting back to my point though, let's do some basic math. If a professor says you should study for three hours for every one in the classroom, and I was taking 15 credit hours, I should have spend 45 hours a week studying. There are only 168 hours in a week. 60+ for work, and I was suppose to be putting in 60 more for school. I would still have had 48 hours to do all the important things in life. Which I guess technically I could have done. I would just have slept four hours a night, ate nothing but fast food, constantly drive 20-30 miles over the speed limit, and sacrifice a virgin to the heavens above in the hope that I wouldn't die during any of these endeavors. If only I could have successfully done that. I would have finished that business degree I didn't really want two years ago!
But now I have a steady job. Yes, some days I work over 15-30 minutes. For the most part though, it's only 40 hours. It starts at about the same time, and ends at about the same time. Not to mention it always ends at the same location that it starts, which is not true of past jobs. 12 hours in the classroom would be 36 hours of studying. So that's only 88 of my 168 hours a week . If I gave up one of the eight hour I now sleep a night, I would have 31 hours to cook, eat, have travel time, personal care, etc. and hopefully still manage to be a functioning human being.
It might not be fun, but it seems very doable. Not to mention it would literally save me thousands of dollars of student loan debt. So really, every hour I study is a better grade for a class I won't have to pay to retake. So I should put as much value into that study time as I do into my job.
And, taking four classes at a time instead of the one or two I was thinking of doing, I could potentially finish my degree twice as fast, and start paying my loans off even sooner. As well as my house, my car, etc. Sadly, our world's happiness is controlled by money.
Anyone you says that money can't buy happiness has clearly never been poor. Once you have teetered on the edge of lower middle class and the poverty line, and worked your ass off to stay in a good place, money starts making you very, very happy. This degree has the potential to double my salary after a few years in the field.
Right now I'm happy though. I can pay all my bills. I can eat healthy food. I can trust my car to bring me to work and that I'll have enough gas til next payday. I have the privilege of a job that I like, and now I get to put that I was a director on my resume. One of those fun buzz words that make you seem more appealing, even though it's only a little extra work on my part.
So, dear readers, I shall keep on keepin' on. Living my busy life, and finding new ways to make it busier, in the hope of making it better. But for today, this life is a good life.
Thank you for reading. If you have any thoughts or advice or anything, feel free to comment down below. Have a good week.
-Gretchen
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