JOURNAL
Week One - 5/14/12 - 5/19/12
One word to explain this week - CHAOS. As soon as school got out for summer break, I got a hold of the YMCA of Greater Cleveland Internship Director, Mark Edwards. We talked for a while, and he wanted me to come in and meet with him to talk about what my internship experience was going to be like, as well as if I had any questions. I met with him that Monday on May 14th at his office in Westlake (which is about 20 mins past Avon, and another 20 from my house). He didn't mention anything about dress code, or anything of that nature, so I decided to go with khaki shorts with a collared shirt. I had only talked to Mark on the phone and my impression in my head was no were near what it was when I first met him. He was a lot younger than I had expected as well as his attire. I was expecting shirt and tie, but he came out in a t-shirt and shorts with sneakers. We talked for about an hour about my schedule and the hours between Avon and Vermilion. Mark set me up to pick up some hours that weekend and fill in for him with a soccer league. After talking, Mark led me to the Avon French Creek Family YMCA to meet the staff. This is were things got crazy. Because the Avon YMCA had just lost their previous Sports and Regional Director, there was no one their for me to take orders from. However, at the time, a 18-yr old Senior in High School was put in charge of the Sports Dept. So for the first week I had to report to a 18 year old kid.
Tuesday, I met with Bill. Bill was an older guy who had been working with the YMCA for years. He had been the Sports Coordinator for many years. However, the Vermilion YMCA was a complete 180 from the Avon YMCA. Avon was a new state of the art facility with a swimming pool, basketball courts, track, classrooms, and a fitness center. Vermilion used an older school that was no longer in use to run the YMCA. It's gym was small, the fitness center lacked equipment, and there was no swimming pool. I sat and talked to Bill for most of that day and met the rest of the staff as well as toured the facility.
Wednesday was my first full day at the Avon Y. When I first got there at 2, the 18 yr old kid, A.J. had not got out of school yet. Most of the staff I didn't get the chance to meet so they all thought I was the new Sports Director. I thought this was pretty funny because I had to tell everyone I was the "intern". I soon got the nickname "Intern Mike" from most of the staff members. Let's just say I wasn't a fan. Once A.J. had got to the Y, he immediately had a list of things for me to do. I could tell he was in over his head. The first thing I had to do was make phone calls to YMCA members, about a family night that the Y was having the next week. I was extremely nervous. I basically got thrown into the fire. AJ had a written line that he wanted me to say and then I would go from there if they answered. He gave me the list of people and it was about 8 pages long. Calling people must of taken 3 hours. The worst part about that job was leaving a message. I felt like I had to be extremely proper and never stutter or mispronounce anything. After I was finished with that, AJ sent me to do inventory on all of the sporting equipment. When I walked into the back room, I was in shock at all of the things in there. The room was completely packed and nothing had any order or place. I finished my day not even making a dent in the inventory.
Thursday I was back at the Avon Y. The night before I left AJ told me to get back at the inventory. Inventory sucks. I had to count shirts, trophies, basketballs, softballs, baseballs, as well as sorting the entire room, any sport and the Avon YMCA had it. I was about 2 hours in when AJ asked me to do him a huge favor. Every Thursday he wanted me to do a basketball skills class for toddlers. It was three different classes that lasted a half hour. Classes started at 4:30 and the last class ended at 6. When he told me about this I jumped right on it. I was just excited to take a break from doing inventory. AJ also let me know that he needed me to help out for two weeks with a T-Ball league. I had no idea what I was truly getting into when I said yes to help with T-Ball. T-Ball was Monday nights at 4:30 to 6. So 4:30 came around and I had to get set for toddlers basketball skills class. The first group was 3-4 yr olds. I had to lower the hoop down to 7'1/2"ft and then put a smaller hoop on so they could make baskets. My expectation for the class was clueless. I had no idea how hard it was to keep the attention of a 3 or 4 year old kid. The second group was 5-6 yr old kids, which was easier, but not much. The last group was 7-10 yr olds which consisted of 2 kids. All the kids were so funny to watch dribble and shoot. That day I spent most of the time letting them dribble and shoot on there own while talking to their parents.
Friday came along fast. It was the end of the week for me until I realized I had to work Saturday morning. Friday with Bill consisted of a lot of assisting with the fitness center and meeting with the staff. I had the privilege of meeting an older man named Olan, who was a blind member of the YMCA. He lifted every morning around 9 and had Bill assist him. From 9 to 10 I helped him out along with Bill, moving from station to station. Olan loved to talk. He had a love for sports and cars. For the first day I just followed Bill around seeing what he did on a normal day. We later talked about the T-Ball League starting up in the second half of Summer. Things at the Vermilion Y are way more laid back and relaxed then the Avon Y. The Avon YMCA is a like a circus compared to the Vermilion YMCA.
Saturday. My last day of work for the week. I had to be in Westlake by 9 to help set up for soccer. When I got there I had no idea, what needed to be done. Luckily I ran into another guy that was helping, Nick. Nick had just been hired to help out at the Westlake YMCA. We set everything up that needed to be done except there was a problem. We had no jerseys or balls for the kids to wear. They were locked in the shed and the other Sports Director Jessica was running late. She eventually arrived and we got the kids what they needed. Next problem we ran into was that there was no coaches. So Nick and I had to coach the first group of kids. It was fun coaching the kids and then reffing the games. Some of the kids weren't that bad. I worked from 9AM til 12PM that day picking up an additional 3 hours.
One word to explain this week - CHAOS. As soon as school got out for summer break, I got a hold of the YMCA of Greater Cleveland Internship Director, Mark Edwards. We talked for a while, and he wanted me to come in and meet with him to talk about what my internship experience was going to be like, as well as if I had any questions. I met with him that Monday on May 14th at his office in Westlake (which is about 20 mins past Avon, and another 20 from my house). He didn't mention anything about dress code, or anything of that nature, so I decided to go with khaki shorts with a collared shirt. I had only talked to Mark on the phone and my impression in my head was no were near what it was when I first met him. He was a lot younger than I had expected as well as his attire. I was expecting shirt and tie, but he came out in a t-shirt and shorts with sneakers. We talked for about an hour about my schedule and the hours between Avon and Vermilion. Mark set me up to pick up some hours that weekend and fill in for him with a soccer league. After talking, Mark led me to the Avon French Creek Family YMCA to meet the staff. This is were things got crazy. Because the Avon YMCA had just lost their previous Sports and Regional Director, there was no one their for me to take orders from. However, at the time, a 18-yr old Senior in High School was put in charge of the Sports Dept. So for the first week I had to report to a 18 year old kid.
Tuesday, I met with Bill. Bill was an older guy who had been working with the YMCA for years. He had been the Sports Coordinator for many years. However, the Vermilion YMCA was a complete 180 from the Avon YMCA. Avon was a new state of the art facility with a swimming pool, basketball courts, track, classrooms, and a fitness center. Vermilion used an older school that was no longer in use to run the YMCA. It's gym was small, the fitness center lacked equipment, and there was no swimming pool. I sat and talked to Bill for most of that day and met the rest of the staff as well as toured the facility.
Wednesday was my first full day at the Avon Y. When I first got there at 2, the 18 yr old kid, A.J. had not got out of school yet. Most of the staff I didn't get the chance to meet so they all thought I was the new Sports Director. I thought this was pretty funny because I had to tell everyone I was the "intern". I soon got the nickname "Intern Mike" from most of the staff members. Let's just say I wasn't a fan. Once A.J. had got to the Y, he immediately had a list of things for me to do. I could tell he was in over his head. The first thing I had to do was make phone calls to YMCA members, about a family night that the Y was having the next week. I was extremely nervous. I basically got thrown into the fire. AJ had a written line that he wanted me to say and then I would go from there if they answered. He gave me the list of people and it was about 8 pages long. Calling people must of taken 3 hours. The worst part about that job was leaving a message. I felt like I had to be extremely proper and never stutter or mispronounce anything. After I was finished with that, AJ sent me to do inventory on all of the sporting equipment. When I walked into the back room, I was in shock at all of the things in there. The room was completely packed and nothing had any order or place. I finished my day not even making a dent in the inventory.
Thursday I was back at the Avon Y. The night before I left AJ told me to get back at the inventory. Inventory sucks. I had to count shirts, trophies, basketballs, softballs, baseballs, as well as sorting the entire room, any sport and the Avon YMCA had it. I was about 2 hours in when AJ asked me to do him a huge favor. Every Thursday he wanted me to do a basketball skills class for toddlers. It was three different classes that lasted a half hour. Classes started at 4:30 and the last class ended at 6. When he told me about this I jumped right on it. I was just excited to take a break from doing inventory. AJ also let me know that he needed me to help out for two weeks with a T-Ball league. I had no idea what I was truly getting into when I said yes to help with T-Ball. T-Ball was Monday nights at 4:30 to 6. So 4:30 came around and I had to get set for toddlers basketball skills class. The first group was 3-4 yr olds. I had to lower the hoop down to 7'1/2"ft and then put a smaller hoop on so they could make baskets. My expectation for the class was clueless. I had no idea how hard it was to keep the attention of a 3 or 4 year old kid. The second group was 5-6 yr old kids, which was easier, but not much. The last group was 7-10 yr olds which consisted of 2 kids. All the kids were so funny to watch dribble and shoot. That day I spent most of the time letting them dribble and shoot on there own while talking to their parents.
Friday came along fast. It was the end of the week for me until I realized I had to work Saturday morning. Friday with Bill consisted of a lot of assisting with the fitness center and meeting with the staff. I had the privilege of meeting an older man named Olan, who was a blind member of the YMCA. He lifted every morning around 9 and had Bill assist him. From 9 to 10 I helped him out along with Bill, moving from station to station. Olan loved to talk. He had a love for sports and cars. For the first day I just followed Bill around seeing what he did on a normal day. We later talked about the T-Ball League starting up in the second half of Summer. Things at the Vermilion Y are way more laid back and relaxed then the Avon Y. The Avon YMCA is a like a circus compared to the Vermilion YMCA.
Saturday. My last day of work for the week. I had to be in Westlake by 9 to help set up for soccer. When I got there I had no idea, what needed to be done. Luckily I ran into another guy that was helping, Nick. Nick had just been hired to help out at the Westlake YMCA. We set everything up that needed to be done except there was a problem. We had no jerseys or balls for the kids to wear. They were locked in the shed and the other Sports Director Jessica was running late. She eventually arrived and we got the kids what they needed. Next problem we ran into was that there was no coaches. So Nick and I had to coach the first group of kids. It was fun coaching the kids and then reffing the games. Some of the kids weren't that bad. I worked from 9AM til 12PM that day picking up an additional 3 hours.
Week 2
5/21/12 - 5/26/12
Week 2. I'm finally starting to get settled in with what needs to be done. Monday I was in Avon from 2-8PM. Today, AJ actually beat me to the Avon YMCA, he had me go try and get as much inventory done as possible. I had to organize all the YMCA t-shirts, make sure all the balls had air, and also keep count of items that needed fixed. Around 4PM I had to get all the t-ball stuff together. The t-ball league was played at a local park down the road from the YMCA. I had an idea of what to expect because I helped with soccer and basketball, but baseball was by far the worst thing I had done at this point. There was no structure at all. The kid in charge was young, maybe 1 year out of high school, he didn't know how to get the kids to listen. I tried my best to help him out anyway I could. Baseball is very difficult play with the little kids, especially with all the dirt that they like playing in. My biggest concern was their safety. I was hoping that no one would get hit while they weren't looking. Add that to the fact that the kids wouldn't listen, and it was a bad combo. T-ball felt like it took forever. I was ready to get out of their when 6PM hit.
Tuesday I was back at Vermilion. I met up with Bill helping Olan work out. Bill had the whole day planned out for me. After helping Olan go through his workout, Bill and I went to the back room and went through some of the sports equipment. More inventory. He had me count everything that was in the room from balls, gloves, helmets. After I did that, the Y had a shed outside used as another utility room. There were soccer balls, nets, and footballs in this shed. After counting all of them, and helping Bill clean the shed it was time to get go home. The days at Vermilion are so relaxed that it doesn't even feel like I'm working.
Wednesday I finally got to meet the man in charge at Avon. Jarrod Williams. Jarrod had just gotten there from East Liverpool, Ohio and had only been working with the YMCA for 2 years. When I first met Jarrod, my expectation for Mark was the same for Jarrod. Jarrod met my expectations. He came in with a shirt and tie and had on business attire. At this point in time, no one in Avon had told me anything about dress code so I continued to wear khaki shorts and a collared shirt. Jarrod was a real nice guy when I first met him. He was very polite and talked to me for a little bit. He was getting adjusted to the new job so we couldn't talk for long. He was extremely busy that first day. He told me that AJ would take care of me the rest of the week and then Jarrod would start giving me things to do. With all of this commotion of the new Sports Director arriving, one of the employees, Charity, asked me to help out her day care with a baseball skills class. There was a minor league baseball field across the street from the YMCA, that the YMCA was affiliated with. Myself, Charity as well as a couple other guys went to help out with the day care. The baseball stadium was pretty big for a minor league team. The field was all turf. We led the kids in stretches and then taught them how to throw the ball. Everyone enjoyed that day.
Thursday I was back at Avon. I finally got time to talk with Jarrod a little bit about who I was and where I came from. Surprisingly enough, even though Jarrod was originally from the Pittsburgh area, he was a Cleveland Browns fan. We both talked about how bad the Browns were and then went from there. He needed me to finish the inventory, because the Greater Cleveland Branch needed some equipment, and Jarrod wasn't sure if we had enough. After three days of doing inventory I was finally done. All the shirts were organized, things in order, the place looked clean. That took me up until the 4PM mark and it was time to get ready for the basketball skills class. I did my usual routine of setting up the basket and lowering it for the little ones. Today was a little different, I didn't have a full class in any of my classes. I had maybe 2 or 3 in each class. I did a lot of individual work with shooting and dribbling, just working on the basics. I really felt like even if the kids didn't like basketball they still had fun. 6PM came quick and I was done with another day.
Friday's are always the best time of the week. I was back in Vermilion. Bill and I did our usual routine and helped Olan. Today Bill set this day for two things. The first was to extend the soccer field by another 20 feet long and another 10 feet wide. The second was to start thinking of ideas to promote the t-ball league. This was one of the hottest days of the early summer. Bill and I were outside for maybe 20 minutes and we had a sweat going. To increase the field size, we had to remove one of the goals that was dug into the ground. I had to do a little manual labor and dig out the goal to move it back 20 feet. After adjusting the length, we moved the corner flag sticks 10 feet back then relined the field. This was pretty interesting because it looks much harder than it really is. All we needed was a stick to hold the string and then a can of spray paint. Once we had gotten the field taken care of, we sat down inside and discussed how we would go about promoting the t-ball league. He all but put me in charge of setting this up and it was up to me to figure out how we would do it. I suggested we make flyers and set them out across the town. Bill agreed and we went to thinking about designing the flyer. To end the day, Bill asked if I wanted to watch the soccer league that the Vermilion YMCA runs on Saturday. I was just hoping it wouldn't turn out like the one in Westlake.
Saturday was very relaxed. Bill had a good session with a ton of cooperative kids. He basically had me sit there and just see if anyone needed with help. All the kids looked like they were enjoying themselves, as well as the kids parents. The days in Vermilion go so much faster than the ones in Avon, even if I don't do as much. With that done, I was finished with my second week of my internship.
Week 2. I'm finally starting to get settled in with what needs to be done. Monday I was in Avon from 2-8PM. Today, AJ actually beat me to the Avon YMCA, he had me go try and get as much inventory done as possible. I had to organize all the YMCA t-shirts, make sure all the balls had air, and also keep count of items that needed fixed. Around 4PM I had to get all the t-ball stuff together. The t-ball league was played at a local park down the road from the YMCA. I had an idea of what to expect because I helped with soccer and basketball, but baseball was by far the worst thing I had done at this point. There was no structure at all. The kid in charge was young, maybe 1 year out of high school, he didn't know how to get the kids to listen. I tried my best to help him out anyway I could. Baseball is very difficult play with the little kids, especially with all the dirt that they like playing in. My biggest concern was their safety. I was hoping that no one would get hit while they weren't looking. Add that to the fact that the kids wouldn't listen, and it was a bad combo. T-ball felt like it took forever. I was ready to get out of their when 6PM hit.
Tuesday I was back at Vermilion. I met up with Bill helping Olan work out. Bill had the whole day planned out for me. After helping Olan go through his workout, Bill and I went to the back room and went through some of the sports equipment. More inventory. He had me count everything that was in the room from balls, gloves, helmets. After I did that, the Y had a shed outside used as another utility room. There were soccer balls, nets, and footballs in this shed. After counting all of them, and helping Bill clean the shed it was time to get go home. The days at Vermilion are so relaxed that it doesn't even feel like I'm working.
Wednesday I finally got to meet the man in charge at Avon. Jarrod Williams. Jarrod had just gotten there from East Liverpool, Ohio and had only been working with the YMCA for 2 years. When I first met Jarrod, my expectation for Mark was the same for Jarrod. Jarrod met my expectations. He came in with a shirt and tie and had on business attire. At this point in time, no one in Avon had told me anything about dress code so I continued to wear khaki shorts and a collared shirt. Jarrod was a real nice guy when I first met him. He was very polite and talked to me for a little bit. He was getting adjusted to the new job so we couldn't talk for long. He was extremely busy that first day. He told me that AJ would take care of me the rest of the week and then Jarrod would start giving me things to do. With all of this commotion of the new Sports Director arriving, one of the employees, Charity, asked me to help out her day care with a baseball skills class. There was a minor league baseball field across the street from the YMCA, that the YMCA was affiliated with. Myself, Charity as well as a couple other guys went to help out with the day care. The baseball stadium was pretty big for a minor league team. The field was all turf. We led the kids in stretches and then taught them how to throw the ball. Everyone enjoyed that day.
Thursday I was back at Avon. I finally got time to talk with Jarrod a little bit about who I was and where I came from. Surprisingly enough, even though Jarrod was originally from the Pittsburgh area, he was a Cleveland Browns fan. We both talked about how bad the Browns were and then went from there. He needed me to finish the inventory, because the Greater Cleveland Branch needed some equipment, and Jarrod wasn't sure if we had enough. After three days of doing inventory I was finally done. All the shirts were organized, things in order, the place looked clean. That took me up until the 4PM mark and it was time to get ready for the basketball skills class. I did my usual routine of setting up the basket and lowering it for the little ones. Today was a little different, I didn't have a full class in any of my classes. I had maybe 2 or 3 in each class. I did a lot of individual work with shooting and dribbling, just working on the basics. I really felt like even if the kids didn't like basketball they still had fun. 6PM came quick and I was done with another day.
Friday's are always the best time of the week. I was back in Vermilion. Bill and I did our usual routine and helped Olan. Today Bill set this day for two things. The first was to extend the soccer field by another 20 feet long and another 10 feet wide. The second was to start thinking of ideas to promote the t-ball league. This was one of the hottest days of the early summer. Bill and I were outside for maybe 20 minutes and we had a sweat going. To increase the field size, we had to remove one of the goals that was dug into the ground. I had to do a little manual labor and dig out the goal to move it back 20 feet. After adjusting the length, we moved the corner flag sticks 10 feet back then relined the field. This was pretty interesting because it looks much harder than it really is. All we needed was a stick to hold the string and then a can of spray paint. Once we had gotten the field taken care of, we sat down inside and discussed how we would go about promoting the t-ball league. He all but put me in charge of setting this up and it was up to me to figure out how we would do it. I suggested we make flyers and set them out across the town. Bill agreed and we went to thinking about designing the flyer. To end the day, Bill asked if I wanted to watch the soccer league that the Vermilion YMCA runs on Saturday. I was just hoping it wouldn't turn out like the one in Westlake.
Saturday was very relaxed. Bill had a good session with a ton of cooperative kids. He basically had me sit there and just see if anyone needed with help. All the kids looked like they were enjoying themselves, as well as the kids parents. The days in Vermilion go so much faster than the ones in Avon, even if I don't do as much. With that done, I was finished with my second week of my internship.
Week 3
5/28/12 - 6/1/12
Week 3 flew by and this week I was put to work. I ran a lot of errands for both of the Y's. Monday I was out in Avon. With inventory done, I was excited to see what I had to do. Jarrod was in a meeting when I had got there so I had to wait a while to talk to him. Once he got out, he needed me to make an excel spread sheet of a purchase order that he had made for the YMCA. The purchase order was all on paper and it was 8 pages long. It took me a while to figure out the format, but I eventually got it taken care of. After taking care of the purchase order, AJ asked me to help him with moving tables to set up a station to pick up bags for their marathon that the Y put on. After moving tables, Jarrod needed me to count over all of the bags and make sure they had enough. That next week they would put the bags together and give all the runners a ton of goodies in the bag. I finished the day by working the t-ball league one more time, but I told AJ I could no longer do it. Jarrod went to the t-ball league and saw what I had to deal with the previous week. He ok'd it and didn't blame me for not wanting to work the league. I was so happy I didn't have to do that anymore. That was probably the one bad experience I had while doing my internship.
Tuesday rolled around and it was the same morning routine. Olan was running a little behind that morning so he was there a little later than normal. Later that day, Bill had a phone conference so he gave me some time off for lunch. After I got back from lunch, he wanted me to start designing the flyers to hand out. I ended up finishing the designs and we made copies and then made them into handouts. After making the copies, Bill and I started looking at how the rosters were shaping up. We added the kids to the roster that had just joined the league. The league was slowly, but surely coming together. Bill also showed me throughout the website that allows members to join and what he does to put them into different programs. Bill is an old fashioned guy and did most of his stuff on paper. I tried talking him into doing more stuff on the computer, but he wasn't up for it.
Wednesday out in Avon, AJ had me run flyers around town. He had me go anywhere I wanted, but did make suggestions about where to go. I drove all over the town of Avon that day. I was so surprised at the amount of people that didn't allow flyers to be put in their stores. My biggest success was the local college around town, hair salons, and the library. I didn't even go into the YMCA. I was driving all over the town.
Thursday I came back to Avon. I had talked to Jarrod about my schedule and I switched so I would be going to Avon on Tuesdays and Thursdays now. Gas was killing me, especially with not being able to get a job while having my internship. During the day I had helped most of the staff members putting the bags together for their "Eagle Run". There was probably at least over 300 bags that needed to be made. After we finished that, Charity asked me if I wanted to help out with the Summer Camp that started next week. I told her that I only had a couple weeks left and would help out if she needed it. All the YMCA members think it is critical that if you start something, you finish it all the way through. They said it's not good for the kids to see different faces each week. This was the third time meeting with the kids for the skills class. They were starting to get pretty good. I wanted the kids to have more fun so I tried to play as many games as I could with them. I even played PIG with the 7-10 year olds.
Friday was there before I knew it and it would go just as fast as the rest of the week. I got to the Vermilion YMCA, told Bill about my schedule change, and figured we would do our daily routine. However, he wanted me to drop the t-ball flyers off around town. He told me I could pick what places I thought were best. I went to neighboring towns right next to Vermilion. I went to the library, dropped them off at small stores, as well as other restaurants. After I was done with the flyers I was able to go home.
Week 3 flew by and this week I was put to work. I ran a lot of errands for both of the Y's. Monday I was out in Avon. With inventory done, I was excited to see what I had to do. Jarrod was in a meeting when I had got there so I had to wait a while to talk to him. Once he got out, he needed me to make an excel spread sheet of a purchase order that he had made for the YMCA. The purchase order was all on paper and it was 8 pages long. It took me a while to figure out the format, but I eventually got it taken care of. After taking care of the purchase order, AJ asked me to help him with moving tables to set up a station to pick up bags for their marathon that the Y put on. After moving tables, Jarrod needed me to count over all of the bags and make sure they had enough. That next week they would put the bags together and give all the runners a ton of goodies in the bag. I finished the day by working the t-ball league one more time, but I told AJ I could no longer do it. Jarrod went to the t-ball league and saw what I had to deal with the previous week. He ok'd it and didn't blame me for not wanting to work the league. I was so happy I didn't have to do that anymore. That was probably the one bad experience I had while doing my internship.
Tuesday rolled around and it was the same morning routine. Olan was running a little behind that morning so he was there a little later than normal. Later that day, Bill had a phone conference so he gave me some time off for lunch. After I got back from lunch, he wanted me to start designing the flyers to hand out. I ended up finishing the designs and we made copies and then made them into handouts. After making the copies, Bill and I started looking at how the rosters were shaping up. We added the kids to the roster that had just joined the league. The league was slowly, but surely coming together. Bill also showed me throughout the website that allows members to join and what he does to put them into different programs. Bill is an old fashioned guy and did most of his stuff on paper. I tried talking him into doing more stuff on the computer, but he wasn't up for it.
Wednesday out in Avon, AJ had me run flyers around town. He had me go anywhere I wanted, but did make suggestions about where to go. I drove all over the town of Avon that day. I was so surprised at the amount of people that didn't allow flyers to be put in their stores. My biggest success was the local college around town, hair salons, and the library. I didn't even go into the YMCA. I was driving all over the town.
Thursday I came back to Avon. I had talked to Jarrod about my schedule and I switched so I would be going to Avon on Tuesdays and Thursdays now. Gas was killing me, especially with not being able to get a job while having my internship. During the day I had helped most of the staff members putting the bags together for their "Eagle Run". There was probably at least over 300 bags that needed to be made. After we finished that, Charity asked me if I wanted to help out with the Summer Camp that started next week. I told her that I only had a couple weeks left and would help out if she needed it. All the YMCA members think it is critical that if you start something, you finish it all the way through. They said it's not good for the kids to see different faces each week. This was the third time meeting with the kids for the skills class. They were starting to get pretty good. I wanted the kids to have more fun so I tried to play as many games as I could with them. I even played PIG with the 7-10 year olds.
Friday was there before I knew it and it would go just as fast as the rest of the week. I got to the Vermilion YMCA, told Bill about my schedule change, and figured we would do our daily routine. However, he wanted me to drop the t-ball flyers off around town. He told me I could pick what places I thought were best. I went to neighboring towns right next to Vermilion. I went to the library, dropped them off at small stores, as well as other restaurants. After I was done with the flyers I was able to go home.
Week 4
6/4/12 - 6/8/12
Well I'm back at it again. This time with my new schedule I was in Vermilion Monday, Wednesday, Friday. This was so much better for me so I didn't have to drive to Avon three times a week. When I got to the YMCA on Monday, Bill let me know that we were gonna be doing a lot of stuff. First thing we did after helping Olan out, was go back to the storage room. Bill wanted to take care of all the basketballs that were lopsided or flat. After picking them all out, we used cardboard cutters to cut them in half to recycle. The smell of the air was terrible. It completely stunk. After taking care of all the basketballs, Bill and I looked up to see if we had any new members join the t-ball league. We had a ton of people join. Our rosters were finally starting to come together. Now the tough part was finding parents that wanted to coach. After we put the rosters together, Bill had me monitor the wellness center to cover for him while he left for a meeting.
This was by far one of the most fun weeks I had at the French Creek YMCA in Avon. Sports Summer Camp had started and I was able to be apart of it. I got to the YMCA around 2pm and the campers were eating lunch. Jarrod was busy with most of his work that he needed to do, and everyone else was part of Sports Camp. So I got to help out with the camp. It was a blast. All the kids enjoyed all the games. They played soccer, hockey, flag football, tag. The kids were running wild and they loved it. That day went by so fast that I didn't even feel like I was there for an hour. I might of enjoyed myself as much as the kids did.
Wednesday was a slow day in Vermilion. Not a whole lot to do really. Bill and I helped Olan lift, just like any other day, but other than that there wasn't much to do. We looked up rosters and filled in the teams accordingly, but after that, there wasn't much else to do. Bill and I talked mostly for the remainder of the day. He told me how he got into the job he had at the YMCA and what he thought needed to be changed. He asked me about my future and what I thought would help with the Vermilion Family YMCA.
Thursday was just like Tuesday. Games, Games, and Games. Who wouldn't like to go to work and be able to run the sports camps. The craziest thing that the kids did that day was the obstacle course. When all the kids walked into the gym, their mouths dropped. They looked like they had never seen something like that before. That was something special I thought that I saw that day. Of course, me being a big kid, I wanted to try the obstacle course, so I asked the counselors if I could go first to test it out. All the kids were going crazy as I was doing it, counting, cheering. It was fun. It also was one of the hardest obstacle courses I ever did. It had me sweating when it was all said and done. After the obstacle course the kids had free time and one of the kids challenged me to a game of 1 on 1 basketball. The kids had a blast that day from what I saw. After camp was over, I had to run my usual Thursday basketball skills class. I wore some pink basketball shoes that day and I thought some of the kids, especially the 3 and 4 yr old girls would love it. Except they all laughed at me. So it didn't go as well as I thought but they got a laugh.
Friday was another slow day in Vermilion. With the YMCA being smaller than Avon, there aren't as many people that come in to use the facility. The t-ball rosters were the main focus of the day. Most of them had been registered, now it was time to put them on teams and find coaches. This was tough because a lot of kids wanted to be on the same team with another kid, but they wanted different coaches. That was probably the toughest thing to do was to put the kids on the team that they wanted, as well as giving them the coach they wanted.
Well I'm back at it again. This time with my new schedule I was in Vermilion Monday, Wednesday, Friday. This was so much better for me so I didn't have to drive to Avon three times a week. When I got to the YMCA on Monday, Bill let me know that we were gonna be doing a lot of stuff. First thing we did after helping Olan out, was go back to the storage room. Bill wanted to take care of all the basketballs that were lopsided or flat. After picking them all out, we used cardboard cutters to cut them in half to recycle. The smell of the air was terrible. It completely stunk. After taking care of all the basketballs, Bill and I looked up to see if we had any new members join the t-ball league. We had a ton of people join. Our rosters were finally starting to come together. Now the tough part was finding parents that wanted to coach. After we put the rosters together, Bill had me monitor the wellness center to cover for him while he left for a meeting.
This was by far one of the most fun weeks I had at the French Creek YMCA in Avon. Sports Summer Camp had started and I was able to be apart of it. I got to the YMCA around 2pm and the campers were eating lunch. Jarrod was busy with most of his work that he needed to do, and everyone else was part of Sports Camp. So I got to help out with the camp. It was a blast. All the kids enjoyed all the games. They played soccer, hockey, flag football, tag. The kids were running wild and they loved it. That day went by so fast that I didn't even feel like I was there for an hour. I might of enjoyed myself as much as the kids did.
Wednesday was a slow day in Vermilion. Not a whole lot to do really. Bill and I helped Olan lift, just like any other day, but other than that there wasn't much to do. We looked up rosters and filled in the teams accordingly, but after that, there wasn't much else to do. Bill and I talked mostly for the remainder of the day. He told me how he got into the job he had at the YMCA and what he thought needed to be changed. He asked me about my future and what I thought would help with the Vermilion Family YMCA.
Thursday was just like Tuesday. Games, Games, and Games. Who wouldn't like to go to work and be able to run the sports camps. The craziest thing that the kids did that day was the obstacle course. When all the kids walked into the gym, their mouths dropped. They looked like they had never seen something like that before. That was something special I thought that I saw that day. Of course, me being a big kid, I wanted to try the obstacle course, so I asked the counselors if I could go first to test it out. All the kids were going crazy as I was doing it, counting, cheering. It was fun. It also was one of the hardest obstacle courses I ever did. It had me sweating when it was all said and done. After the obstacle course the kids had free time and one of the kids challenged me to a game of 1 on 1 basketball. The kids had a blast that day from what I saw. After camp was over, I had to run my usual Thursday basketball skills class. I wore some pink basketball shoes that day and I thought some of the kids, especially the 3 and 4 yr old girls would love it. Except they all laughed at me. So it didn't go as well as I thought but they got a laugh.
Friday was another slow day in Vermilion. With the YMCA being smaller than Avon, there aren't as many people that come in to use the facility. The t-ball rosters were the main focus of the day. Most of them had been registered, now it was time to put them on teams and find coaches. This was tough because a lot of kids wanted to be on the same team with another kid, but they wanted different coaches. That was probably the toughest thing to do was to put the kids on the team that they wanted, as well as giving them the coach they wanted.
Week 5
6/11/12 - 6/15/12
The final week of my internship. It was enjoyable but I think I was ready to finish it. Monday in Vermilion was the normal routine with helping Olan in the morning. Olan and this other guy Tom always went back and forth about cars and different topics. It's pretty funny to see because a lot of the older guys lift in the morning and they all crowd around and listen in to all the talks between everyone. After Olan left, Bill and I went ahead and put the finishing touches on the rosters along with the coaches. The rosters were finally complete and games would start in two weeks. I was somewhat upset that I wouldn't be able to see the teams play because I put them all together.
Tuesday was another fun day in Avon. It was a lot of the same games, but this time we were outside all day. The kids were so funny to talk to, just how they interact and trade their lunches like they are so valuable. Made me miss being a kid. The one game that I enjoyed the most was prison. The game was with 2 teams, and it was basically tag. If you got tagged by the other team, you would have to go to jail until someone came and saved you. All the kids were going crazy. It looked like pure mayhem out in the field that they were playing on. The other counselor and I were the team captains, and my team ended up winning both times we played. The kids really enjoyed that game as well as soccer that day. The only problem I had to deal with was two kids fighting. I had to sit them down and talk to both individually.
Wednesday, Bill and I had to help one of the custodians put up a big banner outside the YMCA. It was the starting point of the marathon that the Vermilion YMCA was putting on. This banner had to be put on two poles, and every time we got it standing up, the banner would either be twisted or crooked. I could tell Bill was frustrated, and I wasn't that happy either. It was another hot day, and we were stuck outside putting up this banner. I kid you not, that banner took us every bit of an hour and a half after having to go get different string like three times. I ended the day with talking to some of the other staff members that I didn't really get a chance to talk to as well as monitoring the fitness center.
Thursday was my last and favorite day at the Avon French Creek Family YMCA. It was my last day so I wanted to have fun with the Sports Camp kids. One thing that I missed out on the previous week was swimming. The kids got to swim in the Rec pool for about an hour. I asked if I could join and the counselors along with Jarrod said yes. I was the "monitor" in the pool. I had to stand at the edge of the deep end and make sure none of the kids could go beyond me. The only way they could go in the deep end is if they had passed the swimming test in the other pool. Swimming was fun, and it was fun doing the last skills camp with the kids for basketball. The one goal I wanted for everyone was to be able to make a basket. On the last day, I had a 3 year old girl finally make a basket after never making one before. That made me feel like a good coach (I knew I wasn't a good one). After the classes, I said goodbye to the staff and thanked Jarrod, and my internship with Avon YMCA was over.
Friday. My last day of my internship. It was bittersweet. I had so much fun learning the ins and outs of the YMCA, both at Vermilion and Avon. Bill and I helped Olan, and I thanked Olan for the pleasure I had to work with him. Friday was a slow one, but Bill was fine with that, and so was I. We looked over the rosters and the teams for the t-ball league. After doing that I monitored the fitness center until it was time to leave. I went around the building and thanked everyone for letting me intern. It was much easier to tell everyone bye at Vermilion than Avon. Avon was a big facility. After thanking everyone I thought about what I learned over the past 5 weeks.
I really enjoyed my time interning with the Avon YMCA and the Vermilion YMCA. However, I don't know if it is something I see myself doing in the future. There was too much indecision and indecisiveness for me to handle. It was a good experience for me to learn
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