Kalahari Lifeguard
When I started, I thought working as a lifeguard was easy. I was wrong. On my first week, I experienced cough, colds, back pain and I even got mini cuts on my legs (caused by working on rafts). It lasted for weeks, the BODY PAIN. As time goes by, I learned to love it instead of hating it. My body slowly adopting all the pain I’ve been experiencing. In short, I’m getting used to it. I didn’t notice that I am actually enjoying my job. I even worked double shifts straight in a week which is 12 hours a day. I enjoyed talking to different kinds of people; Americans, Chinese, Taiwanese, Japanese, Indians, Pakistani, and more. I was scared at first and challenged because I have no experience interacting with different nationalities but eventually, I overcome it. It motivates me to work hard and learn more.
Everyday I’m dealing with different kinds of people with different personality and culture. I observed a lot. By observing, I learned that you can be happy with what you're doing, and you have to look at every situation as an opportunity to do the best you can with your responsibilities. This takes determination and dedication to what you're doing. I made more interactions to the guests. While helping them getting in into the rafts and explaining them the rules and regulations you’ll not notice that they are helping you as well. They’re slowly developing your personal relation skills and they’re helping you to boost your confidence. I discovered a lot of things about myself, the people I met he re, and about the place itself.
All these lessons helped me become more mature and prepared for my future plans in life. Although my experience was limited, I learned how to give a different perspective on how things can be done differently for the better. For example, making sure that I do everything with the big bright smile we Filipinos are known for! It not only helped me become more independent, but it allowed me to take home so many experiences I can apply to different opportunities that will come my way.
