It's a Beautiful Day to Save Lives

Lady guards of Warren W. Willis UM Camp

I have been SO busy the last week! My guard class has been on the go every day since we got here trying to finish our lifeguard certification before orientation week. We finished the certification yesterday and today we were just hanging out, learning how to canoe and sail. I think I can speak for my entire class when I say that we are happy to have survived our certification.

I was personally pretty nervous to get through this week. I was worried that I would not be a strong enough swimmer and get sent home. So to make sure that that did not happen I did what I had to do in order to properly prepare myself and was able to successfully complete the entire course without any issues. Of course, that doesn't mean that it was easy. I had to get through prerequisite tests in order to even continue the course. Checked those off. Next up we had to pass 4 multiple choice exams in the classroom and 3 "final scenarios" in the water. It sounded scary at first but our instructors prepared us extremely well for all of us to pass all of our exams.

The final scenario's are what freaked me out the most. They were basically a physical exam of us demonstrating how we would save victims in different situations. The first two were a breeze. The last one was a different story. But I felt very prepared and knew I could do it as long as I didn't rush to much stayed calm (the way I would have too in an actual emergency). I passed without any major issues but it was not easy. My victim was a 180 lb dude that I rescued from the bottom of an 8 ft pool and was my largest, heaviest victims yet.

Becoming a certified lifeguard is a goal I have had for awhile but it was definitely a "background" goal. To clarify what I mean by that is that it is a goal that I wanted to achieve but I didn't think that I would be able too. I have grown up on the water but I was NOT in shape AT ALL any more. So that was my goal: get back in shape and become a certified lifeguard. I set my mind to it, kept my faith that God would lead me along the way, and achieved my goal. Thanks to this experience, I think I am more comfortable in the water than I have ever been before, and I loved the water before this as well. I can't wait to continue to grow this summer and not only serve on the leadership team here at camp. but watch over the campers as a guard.

"It's a beautiful day to save lives." -Dr. Derek Shepherd

xoxo, tay