So my municipality is really low on lifeguards. Scratch that – my entire country is extremely in need of more lifeguards.
Coming from a lifeguard myself, it’s actually pretty understandable as to why people are hesitant to take on the job…
For one, the training needed is pretty excessive. It varies by area, but to be employed by my municipality I needed my Standard First Aid/CPR certification, National Lifeguard Certification (NLS) and Lifesaving Instructor Certification (LSI). However, it isn’t possible to make it to the NLS stage without getting your Bronze Star Certification, which you aren’t able to complete until you’re 13. As you can see, the process to becoming a lifeguard quickly becomes a lengthy and expensive one.
Also, while the starting salary for a lifeguard looks nice on paper compared to other part-time jobs ($16.82 in my area compared to a $14 minimum wage), the length of shifts is often inconsistent and less lengthy as compared to those for say at McDonalds. I can’t be too angry at this, though, seeing as I didn’t want heavy hours to begin with.
Despite these few setbacks, I can honestly say that this job is pretty amazing. There are moments that make each of those horrible distance swims worth it and those boring courses just more bearable. So sit back and enjoy a few of my favourite working moments, no training required.
1. The young families. I just had to put this at the top of my list because it really is the best. Lifeguarding any kind of public swim can get pretty repetitive; you’re tired of telling the teenagers not to dive and your sick of telling parents to stay within arms reach of their own toddlers (like, come on). And then, in the corner of the pool, you see two young parents swirling around making faces at their chubby little nugget of a child. Just seeing them puts a smile on my face and all I can imagine is me in their place a few years in the future. So freaking adorable.
2. The coworkers. When you go through the years of certifications like I did – flipping from one town to another to take whatever course was available – you kind of forget that there are other people in the same boat as you. I never had a close friend who was going through the process with me, I never saw the same person twice in my span courses and I never really settled down anywhere.
But then I get the job and suddenly I get to see the same people each day, getting to know them and making friends with them. You could argue that this comes with any job, but being able to relate years of hard training to your coworkers is a pretty unique thing. It’s like finally feeling like you belong, with people who aren’t related to you, and it’s pretty awesome.
3. Having job training that actually applies outside of work. I have a friend who worked at Tim Hortons, and she had to spend hours on modules about the right temperature for coffee or how to properly use a drive-thru headset. While you would use these things endlessly while working, you can’t really apply it in your daily life. However, to become a lifeguard you learn thing like CPR and treatment for things like allergies or asthma all the way to a stroke. On top of that, you exercise your ability to stay calm during stressful situations, which will prove useful the next time you write a big exam or take an important interview. I honestly think that this is one of the most unique things the job has to offer.
4. Learning how to fake it when necessary. There are many sides to a lifeguard – the tough side when kids are horsing around, the kind one when a struggling child is taking the swim test, the collected side when things start to get out of control, etc.
Well, picture this; I am a sixteen year old girl, who is expected to be able to save even a grown 50 year old man. Adults have a hard time being in a lesser position than someone significantly younger than them. This requires squaring your shoulders, tilting you chin up and making yourself the biggest, toughest person you can.
On the flip side, teaching swimming lessons to scared little children requires you to act like one of those over-excited hosts on a kids TV channel. My boss told us once that ‘you are actors and when the kids come you step on the stage and put on a show for them’, and honestly; it’s true. You may have woken up at 6am, but you can’t look tired, this may be your 5th lesson of the day but you can’t look bored, and you may completely hate the child but you can to look like you love them.
You start to learn how to be the best you for the people around you, which is such a life skill that I didn’t even comprehend a few months ago.
5. You work so hard for it, that it feels damn good. I used to be that young teenage girl swimming quick laps at the late night lane swims while surrounded by no one under 60. I clearly the crazy busy nights when I’d be stuck swimming with the slowest seniors in front of me, and thinking how all my friends are cozy in bed at home. I remember the disgust of changing in the wet-floored change rooms afterwards, fresh out of the shower and reading a clock that was well past the time I wanted to be awake.
Those lane swims were a part of my life for years, always trying to beat the clock or just trying to make it to the other end of the pool without passing out. As I got older and life got busier, I slowly drifted away from the lane swims (much to my joy, at the time), instead getting my swimming in as I moved up to the harder life guarding certifications. And then, finally, I made it.
When I got my schedhule, I highlighted all of my shifts like a robot, just overjoyed to finally be at the point to even have a scheduled to highlight. It wasn’t until I went in for my very first shift ever that I realized where I was.
It was Monday night. The parking lot was quiet. We unlocked the doors, and slowly the seniors trickled in. And suddenly I was right back in my younger self’s shoes, squeezing in among the chatting grandmothers to try and make some room to do some breast stroke. I had come so full circle that it felt like the young parts and the current parts were overlapping. I knew then that it was all worth it.
(To be completely honest, I miss those late night lane swims, and although working them is great, I shock myself by truthfully writing that swimming them was even better).
And so with that my friends, I wish the sincerest good luck to all of you who are on your way to getting the job. Keep pushing, I promise you that it gets better. To all of those who are already in my shoes, or are even more experienced than I, I applaud you. Go us.
A la prochaine,
Iz
The Bashful Brunette 