As the summer is coming to a start for all those “camp kids,” it means that my summer job has begun. Camp Welch has been my summer home for the past ten years, and employer for five. Loving the water and children, I decided five years ago to become a certified Lifeguard, making one best decisions I had ever made. Lifeguarding has been an interesting task, but also comes with a set of struggles I encounter on the daily basis.
1. Horseflies.
Not many people who I know, are familiar with real Horseflies unless they went to Camp Welch. In my opinion they are worse than mosquitos and bee stings, as they bite you leaving you with pain, but ultimately a red itchy bump. Of course, these bugs only reside at the pool, making it a competition with the lifeguards to see who can kill the biggest one at the end of summer!
2. The tan lines.
When you spend every day in and out of the sun, the tan lines begin to get worse and worse. Each day, you begin to get darker as the skin covered by the guard suit gets lighter. At the end of the summer, it looks like you have a white bathing suit on, instead of your skin, making it impossible to find clothes to hide your tan lines.
3. Children running on the deck.
Over the years, I have found that even knowing all of the pool rules, each and every child loses their ability to remember this one rule: Walk on the pool deck. At Camp, the deck does get wet, and slippery, yet WALK has become my new constantly said word every year around this time.
4. Finding a million frogs in the pool.
Being at Camp, there’s no getting around the fact that we are completely surrounded by nature, and having a little swampy area close by, we have been notorious for finding frogs in the pool and the skimmers. Every frog is so intriguing to every child that gets a glimpse of what’s in the lifeguard’s hands as we set them back into their habitat.
5. Dropping the whistle/sunglasses in the pool.
Every year, it has become inevitable that I somehow find a way to drop the most important things I need right in front of me in the pool. With this said, I often have to make the children play a game to see who can find what I dropped first.
6. Smelling line chlorine for the summer.
With every pool day, the struggle of having chlorine in your hair is the worst, as each day after work requires a long shower to get rid of the smell. Ultimately, the smell of chlorine finds its way to stay with you all summer long.
With each struggle of being a lifeguard comes with the wonderful opportunity to do what I love every day. Not only do I love being a lifeguard, but I love being a Camp Welch Lifeguard!
