Salt Lake City- Day two June 29

Camping was quite the experience. I usually do not camp, and this is one reason I think this trip will be an adventure. Waking up in the middle of the night to walk to the restrooms was sort of scary. It is so dark out and you can hear the animals. Our tents were right near the camels, so you can only imagine how I felt. However, I survived my first night of camping and so did my campers. I feel like I will get more used to it after doing it a few more times. After waking up, we ate chocolate chip and blueberry pancakes. Then we hopped in the bus for an hour ride to the Alpine coaster, and along the way drove by Olympic Park, where some of the skiing slopes for this past winters Olympics games were located. The Alpine coaster is a rollercoaster where you go one or two to a person in a little car, and you control your own speed by handling the break. The track takes you up the mountain slowly, and you then make your way back down the curvy and fast track, back to the bottom where we began. At first I was extremely scared, but then I did it and had a blast. There are going to be many activities on the trip I am going to be nervous about doing but this is a once in a lifetime excursion so I am going to do it all! Immediately after we rode the fun rollercoaster, we went to the water park, where the kids got to relax in the lazy river and go on slides. After showering at the “clean” campground showers everyone got ready for a delicious dinner at Chili’s. Following dinner, we had a fun filled night of bowling. Everyone had fun, and no one kept score. Tonight is our last day in Utah and our last day of camping for a few days. As you can see, all of our days are filled with lots of things we do, but we keep energized with all the good food we are always eating!

June 28- Salt Lake City- Utah

When meeting all the kids at the airport you could see on their faces how excited they were to meet new friends and have an adventurous summer. After meeting each kid, I knew I wanted to try and get to know each one and make this a summer of a lifetime for them. Our first night of the trip was camping in Utah. Many of the kids were not thrilled that we had to camp. However, camping gives kids a chance to bond with one another. I bet by the end of the trip the kids will be glad we went camping, and also acquire many new skills. Each camper is divided into work groups that include a rotation of food preparation, doing the dishes, and cleaning up the campsite before we head out to our next destination. Arriving in Utah was an amazing experience. The scenery is breathtaking. The mountains are gorgeous. I felt like I was part of a spectacular painting. After going over the policies and playing some icebreaker games with the kids, we had an amazing dinner. This was not a normal camp dinner. We ate chicken, steak, salmon, asparagus and salad! Later on that night, we went to the local Lagoon Amusement Park where the children had the chance to ride roller coasters. (Half of them I wouldn’t even go on.) The kids seemed to have a blast and were already making new friends. I am excited to see what the rest of this trip brings. We have lots more to explore and do!

Starting a New Job

This post is from June 28th- the first day of my new summer trip. Each day I wrote about the new adventures I encountered. Today is a new journey for me. I am on my way to start a summer job that I have always wanted. The feeling I have is indescribable. It is 5 a.m. right now and I am sitting at Fort Lauderdale airport waiting for my plane flight to LaGuardia so I can pick up the kids to go to Utah. During the summer I will have the chance to experience seeing most of the United States and Canada and make an impact in children’s’ lives. Throughout my experiences each day, I will tell you funny excerpts that may happen, and different things I encounter each day. This job is the discovery to many new things and I am looking forward to it. I encourage every one of you to go for something you want!

Accomplishing my first dream job

This summer I went on a job I always wanted to do. Over the summer I was able to be a counselor for a teen traveling camp called westcoastconnection. I was able to fulfill two of my passions: working with children and traveling. We traveled all over the west coast of the United States and toured some places in Canada. This experience changed my view on life in general- I now appreciate the scenic beauty of the natural wonders of the world. Each tour leader gets assigned a different job that they are in charge of. I was in charge of researching different facts about each place we went to each day. By doing this I learned things I never knew about many different places. In addition, I programmed activities for the campers to participate in and confirmed all the reservations of each place we went to. I enjoyed all the tasks I had to do, working with the campers, and seeing some of the most beautiful places in the world. I wrote every night about the experience I had and the activities I endured. If you read on you will get to read about my experience and see pictures from this experience.

Obtaining your dream

It is time to put the books to effect! Sitting around and waiting for a job you want isn’t going to make it happen. Many people who do not have the job they want get stuck in a rut of complaining about it, yet do nothing to change it. Here are some things you can do to help you get focused about what you want and then obtain what you are striving for:

1. Make a visualization board. On this board cut out pictures and words of everything you want in life. It can be as crazy as owning a million dollar house, to as simple as a pair of clothes you want. You can also put things on there that you would like to accomplish, such as going back to school or getting a different job. Then every night look at the board and visualize what you really want. It may sound crazy but it gets you one step closer to what you want!

2. Be persistent. Now of days jobs are easy to access over the internet. All you have to do is post your resume and wait to hear back from someone. When this is all your doing- you most likely will not get the job you want. If you really want something- you need to sell yourself! I suggest going to the place of employment you want to work at and ask to talk to someone. You can even ask to intern their so you can learn more about the company. Sometimes you get so caught up in the job you currently have and you keep putting the job you really want on the backburner. Every time you waste a day you may let an opportunity pass you by.

3. Networking- There are many ways now of days that you can network. Face book is a site that many people now use to market themselves and network with others. There is also a website called LinkedIn where you can post your resume, and network with other people. You can post your resume on CareerBuilder and Monster too. If you are looking for a teaching job, there are teacher websites you can post your resume on and they send you emails with new updates of jobs in different states. In addition, you can always go to a headhunter and have them help you look for a job! There are ways of getting a job, so start putting your resume out their and networking with other people! You never know who you are going to meet.

4. Volunteering – You may think “I don’t have a job, why am I going to volunteer for no money?” Well there are many benefits of volunteering. First of all you have the opportunity of meeting many people, which is a great form of networking. Also, you feel good about yourself because you feel that you are doing something worthwhile with your time. Find something that you are passionate about and volunteer. You may meet someone who offers you a job, or learn something new.

Get Knowledgable- Read Books

Are you one of the many people who are suffering from an expectation hangover? You may be feeling that you have not accomplished enough and this feeling makes you overwhelmed. Many people go into jobs because they feel it is the “right” choice to make. They may do what makes their parents happy instead of what makes them happy. For a long time, I felt that the “right” thing to do would be staying in Florida, waiting tables until I found a job I went to school for. I thought this was the best option because I could save money and eventually get a stable job here. Then a friend recommended a book called 20 something, 20 Everything by Christine Hassler. This is a self help book for women in their twenties. It discusses why we are confused and unsatisfied with different aspects of our life. The author Christine Hassler presents exercises for you to do throughout the book in order to answer these three simple questions: Who am I? What do I want? How do I get it? This book allowed me time to answer questions about my passions and dreams. Now, I have a different outlook on how I view jobs and how I go about getting the job I want. It taught me a valuable lesson about life in general. I recommend it to any woman in their twenties who is confused about anything in their life, or is having difficulty figuring out a career, or a relationship. Reading different books in general can give you different perspectives on things so keep your head up and keep reading!

Live Your Dreams- Try New Things

Many people get out of college and are unsure what life path to take.They ponder questions such as where should I live? What kind of job do I want? How am I going to get a job in this economy? Should I go back to school? Have I accomplished enough? As a recent college graduate, I fall into the category of being at a roadblock when it comes to these types of questions. Just like many, I have many things in life I want to accomplish and I am unsure where to start. You are probably thinking why I do not get a job in the field I went to school for? In my situation, this would be ideal because I love working with kids. However, my major was Elementary Education and with the current economy it is tough to get a job right now. Therefore, I realized that I shouldn’t wait for a job to open but rather consider my life passions, and go after a job similar to teaching that can make me happy. Statistics show that 84% of workers are not in their ‘dream job.’ (CareerBuilder). In addition, 80% of employees do not think their job is fun (Reuters). I know I want to wake up every morning and enjoy my job and I am sure you do as well.

Until a couple weeks ago, I worked as a waitress. My ultimate passion is working with kids and I didn’t want to sell myself short just because there aren’t any teaching jobs at the current moment. I was sick of wasting time doing a job that was not fulfilling my dreams so I quit. I decided to change my attitude about the workforce and go for something that was my passion. Over the past few months, I have been reflecting on all of the things I want out of life. I suggest everyone does this!I decided that I enjoy doing many things- acting, dancing, art, planning things, teaching, and traveling. Then I realized, I can’t make all of these into careers. Therefore, I narrowed down my options and decided I want a career helping kids and possibly traveling. I decided to make acting, dancing, and art into activities. Then I went and looked for a job where I can work with kids and travel. This summer I am doing just that. I will be a counselor on a teen tour. I get the opportunity to make a difference in kids lives and travel. When I am done with this summer job, I am going to go abroad and teach English or move to a different state and teach. This fulfills my passion of traveling to new places, and helping others. Some may think I am crazy for picking up and just leaving like that, but if you never dare to try, how will you ever know what could happen? During this blog, I am going to give tips on how you can go about fulfilling your passions of your dream job. In addition, I will give you insight about all the places I go to on my summer trip. Read on and you will be able to get some tips on how you can get a job you love doing right now.