This summer I had the privilege of working summer programming for a child care facility. It was an extremely stressful, yet rewarding job. I started off as a part of youth development staff, but not even a week in I was thrown into a leadership position. It was like a race that I had not trained for. At first, it was really hard because I did not know how to run the race. Daily I learned new techniques and practices to aid me in this ongoing race. Incredibly grateful for the opportunity, I quickly began to observe what needed to be done by the team leader. As an elementary education major, I was thrilled to serve as a leader to my big "class." Through field trips, to planning countless activities, I learned a plethora of information to take with me as I embark on this teacher journey. Below are the top five things I learned this summer.

1. Flexibility

To give some background information, the place I worked with lost a large handful of staff during the start of summer. This left most of the groups understaffed. Originally when I was hired, I was told I would work 30 hours tops, but that quickly turned into 45 hours. Most weeks, I worked 50 hours a week. I had to be flexible with my hours. Also, our schedule was constantly changing. My group might have been assigned to go to the multipurpose room, but at that given time there would be 80 kindergarten and first graders napping. Another prime example of flexibility would be finding staff for field trips. We had to follow a strict 10 to one staff ratio. On an average day, I would have 70 second and third graders going on a field trip. My team only had four staff including myself, so we would have to pull education staff or teen staff to aid us. A few times the facility did not have enough staff, which meant my group was unable to attend their daily field trip. I would then have to quickly decide what back pocket ideas I could pull to keep them entertained.

2. Responsibility

Before I began my job, I would like to believe that I was a responsible young adult. Now, I am entirely confident in saying that I am a responsible young adult. I was in charge of 70 to 90 children, along with my three additional staff. My job was to serve as the head of the team and make sure we were as a whole being effective while following the rules and guidelines. Each field trip and rotation, I had to know exactly where each child was. Parents left their children in my hands, and I made sure to take care of them. Each day, I made sure the children ate their lunch and their snack. If a child was hurt, I took responsibility for it and provided the correct treatment.

3. Patience

Going into this job, they asked me what my weaknesses were. I told them a lack of patience. I quickly had to build a thick layer of patience for these kids. They never failed to blurt a question out as I was giving instructions, or come up and tug my shirt until I paid attention to them. I had to have patience when a child was having a bad day. It is extremely challenging to take a breath, instead of bursting out in anger. We had quite a few members with behavioral disorders or disabilities, and I learned that not every situation would be handled the same. Every child is different, and I had to learn to be more patient with numerous members. One specific example, I had one child who would throw full on temper tantrums as an eight-year-old. The first time I approached him during one of his fits, I automatically sent him to the office. However, throughout the summer I learned how to approach him, and to have patience when he would shut down. Patience is key when working with children.

4. Planning

As I was given a leadership role, I was told I had to turn in plans for what we would do during each rotation. I remind you--I was a newbie to this whole rodeo, and I was not sure what I was supposed to do or plan. Thankfully, I had some background knowledge from my practicum experience in the spring. I spent countless nights researching games for gym, life lessons to teach for healthy habits, educational activities for EDU rotation and some back up games for down time. I had to plan for a nine hour day, five days a week. I am still very new to planning, but I sure did get some great experience this summer with planning.

5. Making Relationships

Each day I intentionally walked into the games room and told each individual member of my group, "Good morning, how are you?" The reality hit hard for me because I had quite a few homeless children in my group. I had children who had been through far more than me. To me, this was the part that made me realize that it was more than a job. I had to learn how to make positive relationships with my members. A lot of times, I had to catch myself because I was forming relationships only by calling my kids to sit out due to their choices. I had to learn how to approach all of my children individually, because circumstances were very different for each one. Many of my children were from the foster care system, and I had to keep in mind of how they felt. Many people asked me why I would work there knowing how hard it was going to be.

My boyfriend was home the first week I started my job, and he would visit me during lunch. One day I was complaining about how I just could not get through to the kids, and I just felt like I was failing. He told me that it wasn't that I was failing the kids, but that I didn't believe in my abilities. In that moment, he also reminded me why I applied for the job. I applied for the job to work with some kids during the summer, to gain teaching experience, but most of all, to make an impact in at least one of my student's lives. I noticed many times when I would go to a child who was upset in a corner, me just going over there to give them a hug made a big difference in their eyes. I told my group of boys every day what I expected out of them. I demanded their best and nothing less. Explaining to them that I believed in them and that they were wasting their own time by giving me less than their best, made them begin to think. I had opportunities to teach them when they chose to make a poor decision. I shared gifts with them, and I told them to make me proud as they moved on. It was only two months that I spent with my group, but I can truthfully say that I impacted at least one life in there. It was more than a job to me. It was an opportunity for me to learn about myself, expand my horizons, build a foundation for the champions those kids are and to love on the next generation.