I am thankful that I worked during college. It has been great to experience all types of jobs and internships. I don't think I worked too much, and I do know I had a lot of fun.
Many of your readers know that I spent my freshman year at Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, NY. I got there and started my freshman year like all the other "first years" (as they like to call them there). I was taking a child psychology class that required me to do field work at a daycare or school.
I'm such a supporter of public colleges, since I attend a school in the Big 10 now, but I will say this for SLC: tons of the students work with children. All my close friends did, and there were great oppourtunities to volunteer and tudor youth. It's a great system: college students working with children. I love that focus-
Anyway, I choose the SLC Early Childhood Center, because it was right on campus and very close to Hill House (where I lived). I worked Tuesdays and Thursdays right after Black History. I would walk over quickly, and eat much lunch on the way to the building. I worked in the 2's room- it was seperated by age, and I loved it. The kids were simply angelic, and I get sick to my stomach to think of how "old" they would be now.
This was taken Oct 2009, but I worked there from 05-06
Working here also enabled me to get some fabulous babysitting gigs. I put my name up, mentioned references, and had pull tabs- and all were gone within a week. I started babysitting for Lily during her lunch hour on Wednesdays and then for her and her brother on Friday nights. I also got to visit her in Oct when I came back, I am so happy she remembered me, she was only four when I took care of her. I also was a "mother's helper" on Saturday mornings for a mom and her little boy who had Aspbergers. I had fun there, too. All the parents were great, and let me eat their fabulous gourmet food and take photos of their kiddies with my DSLR to build my portfolio-
During Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Spring break, I was back home in PDX. I spent my time there working for my boss Maria at Collage. Collage is the greatest art-scrapbook store in NE (and I think she opened a new location). Anyway, had way too much fun there, I loved Maria and miss her- We used to shut down the entire store just to get killer Mexican food for lunch, and I got to decorate the windows. It was such a treat-
Here we are. Taken Dec. 2005. I loved all that cardstock, still do!
In the summer I had my very first "big girl" internship. I woked for a local newspaper in Minneapolis and commuted each day on the bus. By this time I had decided to attend the U of MN and was living at home with my mom & stepdad. I woke up early, went to work, and came home. It was tiring at first, and I had to adjust to working lots of hours, but I loved the pay : ) My boss Mo was wonderful, and I had so much fun organizing the archive room, helping her with files, and doing other circulation duties. I even had my very own desk with killer views-
the building where I worked everday from June-August
Like I said above, I am thanful for these experiences. I loved my boss at the scrapbook store, and at the newspaper, but not so much at the ECC. I think working with her taught me a few valuble lessons, though. And let's keep in mind I didn't get paid at the ECC, it was just for field work. I'm glad I could do that, and supplement with babysitting. It was a good year, and I liked my jobs.
