Lifeguarding has always been seen as the easiest job for a high school or college student. It has the most flexibility with scheduling. The only issue with lifeguarding is it is not always the best. Yes, it is easy, but there are also some days that are more difficult and frustrating. You get to become close to your coworkers and some of the members of the pool you work at, but there are several times where you will have to know how to deal with complaints from parents and be able to enforce rules every day.

To become a lifeguard, you must go through a full lifeguarding class which lasts at least three days in a row. On each day the class would go from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The first day is all about the first aid and CPR courses. There was a lot of information that we needed to make sure we remembered the whole weekend because the written test was not until the end of the third day.

The second day is going over the in water stuff, like rescues. We would use the guard tube, which is the bright red tube that guards always have with them, to jump in and save someone by getting them to hold onto the tube. That was the most difficult part of becoming a lifeguard.

I have been working as a lifeguard for four years already and have had my share of struggles. Kids at the pool are always breaking the rules. The parents never care that they are being yelled at all the time because they do not pay much attention to them during their time there.

When the kids are running on the pool deck we all as guards yell at them to walk constantly and they never understand. There are the kids who are not good swimmers who have to wear a life vest and stay in certain areas of the pools. They constantly try to take the vests off and we have to keep telling them not to do that or they cannot be in the pool.

Then there are those parents who do not pay attention to their kids. Most kids under a certain age would have to have a parent in the water or on the side of the pool watching them, but they never want to do that. We sometimes see parents sitting on the side of the pool on their phones or reading book and we have to go up to them and try to explain that they need to pay attention to their children. This is always difficult because it is uncomfortable to tell someone what to do when they are so much older than you. You think they would understand that they need to be with their children at all times but they never want to follow that rule.

As you can see, being a lifeguard is not always easy. There are some good days and some bad days, but you will never know what kind of day it will be until you are at work. There are always problems that need to be dealt with everyday, no matter how big or small. You must be okay with yelling at kids not following the rules and making sure adults are also following them.