Since around 2011 I have been working with children from ages 3 to 10.
It all started when I became a leadership assistant at the Long Beach Yacht Club with a program called Sea Otters.
I had been in this program when I was a little kid and was ecstatic to be able to give back to the program.
After I turned 16 I was offered a job to work with the program as an employee and I said "YES!" without any hesitation. Through this program, I gained experience which led me to start a babysitting business for local families.
To strengthen my abilities, I got CPR certified by Red Cross as well as First Aid trained. With these two skills under my belt, by babysitting business started to boom.
This past summer I worked at an art studio working summer camps for kids of all ages and continued to babysit.
Now that I am back at school In Kansas, I had to continue doing what I love, so I pursued a job at the Boys & Girls Club of Lawrence, Kansas.
Working at the Boys & Girls Club not only brought me new friendships and connections with my new coworkers but has also deepened my love for working with elementary school kids.
Through every single job opportunity, I have learned something new and also experienced a new even greater sense of joy.
Some people may be wondering why I chose to write this week's article on this topic.
The answer to their questions is simple. I simply love working with kids and the youth in my community.
Every day is a new day when you work with children and nothing is ever truly the same on a day to day basis. One day the kids could be bouncing off of the walls with insane amounts of energy and the next day they could be sleepy and dreading recess.
Although the kids can act super crazy some days, they never fail to make me laugh or smile. They have some of the funniest and silliest jokes and comments that just make you burst out into laughter.
Each of the kids is different in so many ways. Different backgrounds, different personalities, different interests. However, though they are different they all work so well together and constantly bring new ideas to the learning table. They also aren't afraid to speak their minds and their true feelings about an activity which helps me improve my job even more.