I have begun to look back over the summer and what I've learned about the world of work and what I've learned about myself. First and foremost, I've learned that the people I know actually have contacts with a lot of other people. A simple phone call to an individual to see if he knew anyone that needed some office help actually netted me a job -- with him! It has surprised and amazed me, just by mentioning a certain topic, or asking a certain question,how the ripple effect begins. For example, after spending a year on the team, and having daily contact with her, I never knew the pitching coach for my collegiate team had very close ties to the owner of professional baseball team, or that her landlord had previously played professional sports. Why would I? But a chance comment brought all that information forward. It goes to show you that what your mother always said was true, "Behave because you never know who might be watching."

I also learned a lot about myself. I don't do so well when things are hectic. I like things orderly and organized. It's easier for me to get up and go to work if everything else in my life is under control. I mentioned previously that I didn't mind the mundane task of filing. Again, it's orderly. While I don't see myself as rigid, I now know that I probably wouldn't enjoy a job with a lot of loose ends all the time.

I guess when I think about it, I was one of the instructors at camp that tried to maintain order. (There's a theme here.) It's not a popular position to be in, particularly when you have no authority, and the person who does makes idle threats. When the 16 and 17 year olds soaked the floor of the dorm with an inch of water, I was the one who made them clean it up before they went to their next session. Another counselor's response (immature in my opinion) was to steal all of their clothes and string their underwear up the flagpole. To me that only perpetuated the cylce of bad behavior.

One of the things I did learn by coaching at camp will serve me well as I work with others, and eventually have others reporting to me. Before we began, our coaches sat all of the instructors down and talked to us about how to talk to the campers. They cautioned us to not say "don't" as we were trying to teach; that telling them what not to do isn't helpful. Instead the explained that we needed to use phrases like "You need to," "Try to," "I'd like for you to," and so on. Those phrases are certainly good advice to use in dealing with almost everyone.

Lastly, although I've had a lifetime of taking direction from other people, actually having a boss was somehow different. After parents, teachers, and a variety of coaches through the years, you'd think it would be easy for me to take direction. I struggled early on with the demanding nature of the requests that my boss makes. It's improved, but he still makes me clench my teeth most of the time when he tells me my schedule or gives me something new to do. Without a doubt there are bosses much, more worse out there -- but I won't have to be one of them when I have individuals reporting to me!