Settings for Recreation Workers
Private Industry
Large companies often employ recreation workers at the work-place to organize and direct leisure activities and athletic programs for employees and their families. Activities could include bowling and softball leagues, social functions, travel programs, discount services, and, to an increasing extent, exercise and fitness programs. These activities are generally for adults.
Any openings would be listed in the help wanted ads or made known through the company's personnel office. Some companies also might list openings with private and/or state employment agencies or in newsletters put out by related professional associations.
Cruise Ships
Cruise ships offer employment for social directors that is very similar to the role of camp counselors. An in-depth look at this career is provided for you later with details on duties, salaries, getting started, and a firsthand account from an assistant cruise director. Playgrounds and City Recreation Areas
City playgrounds, parks, community pools, civic centers, and community centers offer both full-time, year-round and part-time, summer employment for trained recreation workers, youth leaders, lifeguards, swim instructors, sports directors, fitness instructors, and counselors. Look through your local White Pages to find city and community center listings; then telephone to ask for the proper procedure for job applications.
Health Clubs
Health clubs hire a variety of trained fitness instructors, personal trainers, and sports directors to service both adults and children.
To meet safety standards and insurance and state and local regulations, most health club-type settings require that their instructors and trainers have appropriate qualifications or licenses.
Personal trainers hold a great deal of responsibility for their clients' welfare and must be fully trained in what they do.
There are a few routes trainers can take to learn their craft and become certified. Some universities offer exercise science or exercise physiology programs. You also can do a home study through the American Council on Exercise (ACE), and then sit for the exam they give twice a year.
The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) is also a certifying body. Both tests have written and practical components.
The practical component of each test consists of sub-max testing, where you are evaluated while you monitor a client's heart rate and blood pressure. You also will put your client through a workout, and your spotting techniques and how you interact will be judged. Once you have become a personal trainer you'll need continuing education credits to keep up your certification.
A training program can take two weeks, eight weeks, or four years, if you pursue a bachelor's degree.
Personal trainers in a health club can work on commission or on an hourly rate, earning anywhere from $45 to $150 an hour, depending upon the budget of the clientele.
Personal trainers can set their own hours. If they choose, they can train only four people in a day and be done. But if self-employed, personal trainers have taxes and insurance expenses to consider, and they may choose to take on more clients.
Theme Parks and Tourist Attractions
Theme parks and tourist attractions offer employment for activity directors, tour guides, presenters, and other related positions to service both adult and children visitors. Contact the personnel office of the theme park or attraction that interests you.
Churches and Synagogues
Church- and synagogue-sponsored organizations such as the Christian Youth Organization (CYO) or Jewish Community Centers (JCCs) have a need for part-time and full-time youth leaders and other related recreation workers with varied backgrounds and training. Contact directly the particular church or temple group for which you are interested in working.
YMCAs
The YMCA is one of the biggest employers of youth leaders, recreation workers, activity and specialty instructors, and other related positions. Jobs are filled both in YMCA city and town centers as well as at a variety of Y-sponsored resident and day camps around the country. Contact your local Y for information on job openings and requirements.
Museums
Museums and planetariums-those catering to adults as well as children's museums and discovery centers-provide special activities for children in year-round, summer, and after-school programs. Jobs in this category usually fall under the auspices of the education or interpretation departments.
The American Association of Museums (AAM) puts out a monthly newsletter called Aviso. At least half of each issue is devoted to listings for employment opportunities and internships. See Appendix A for the AAM's address.
Salaries vary widely from position to position, but are generally low, as are most pay scales for education-related fields.
How you proceed with your training will depend upon your interests and circumstances. If you are clear from the start what avenue you wish to pursue, you can tailor-make a course of study for yourself at the university of your choosing.
Traditionally new hirees to the field of museum work have completed at least a bachelor's and often a master's degree in an academic discipline appropriate to the intended career. Those wishing to pursue education or interpretation positions can enroll in specific museum studies programs or work toward a degree in related areas of education or public relations.
The American Association of Museums publishes the Guide to Museum Studies & Training in the United States, which lists more than eighty museum studies programs offering undergraduate or graduate courses or both. Most of these programs came into existence after 1975, and many new programs continue to join the ranks each year.
Zoos
Similarly to museums, zoos offer special activities and programs geared toward children. These programs are generally scheduled year-round and offer both full- or part-time employment.
Competition is keen for employment within zoos, and the more qualifications you have the better. Most zoos require at least a bachelor's degree combined with hands-on experience. Internships and volunteering are excellent ways to gain that experience.
Close-Up Look at Cruise Staff Work
Probably everyone, at one time or another, has seen reruns of The Love Boat on television and watched Julie, Doc, Isaac, Gopher, and Captain Steubing go about their daily activities, interacting with and making sure that passengers have the best vacations of their lives.
Although the reality might not exactly mirror life on the popular series, being part of a cruise ship staff can be fun and exciting, with the opportunity to travel to exotic ports, meet all different kinds of people, make new friends, and lead a carefree lifestyle.
Cruise lines employ all sorts of personnel to handle the many tasks involved with running a ship. Of most interest to those considering a career in recreation would be what is called "cruise staff," another term for social or activities director or assistant cruise director. Job titles and responsibilities vary from ship to ship, but in many ways, the work of the cruise staff is similar to a counselor position at a summer camp.
What It's Like to Be Part of a Cruise Staff
Although filled with its share of excitement and glamour, working on a ship involves a lot of hard work. Cruise staff put in long hours-anywhere from eight to fifteen hours a day, seven days a week-and must maintain a high level of energy and always be cordial and friendly to passengers.
Cruise staff members are generally involved with organizing activities, games, and social events, including shuffleboard and ring toss, Bingo, aerobics classes, basketball, golf putting (and driving-off the stern of the ship), and pool games. They also participate in cocktail parties and masquerade balls and take every opportunity to make sure passengers feel comfortable and are enjoying themselves.
Many of the cruise staff also double as entertainers and need to have some talent for performing, whether as singers, musicians, or DJs.
When in port, most of the crew is allowed to go ashore and have time off to explore, although some cruise staff function as chaperones, helping passengers find their way around foreign locales.
Activities onboard ship usually follow a rigid schedule, with little time in between for the crew to rest or take a break. With a constant eye on their watches, cruise staff run from one activity to another, announcing games over the loudspeaker, setting up the deck for exercise classes, supervising ring toss tournaments or other special events, and encouraging everyone to participate.
An outgoing, energetic individual would be in his or her element in such a job; someone who lacks those skills would find the work very difficult.
Salaries and Benefits
Although salaries are not overly generous, the additional benefits are. Cruise staff are provided with free housing while onboard ship and all they can eat. It's not necessary for a full-time employee of a cruise line to maintain quarters ashore and, therefore, most of the salary can be saved.
Getting Started in Cruise Recreation
A college education is not necessary, but some cruise lines prefer to see an applicant with a degree in psychology, hotel management, physical education, recreation, or communications. It's also a good idea to know another language, especially Spanish or German.
Even more important are the following personal qualities a good cruise staff member should possess: patience, diplomacy, tolerance for a wide variety of people, a never-ending supply of energy, an outgoing and genuinely friendly nature, enthusiasm, artistic talent, and athletic ability.
Most successful applicants land their jobs by applying directly to the various cruise lines, which are located mainly in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York. Look through the Yellow Pages in each city for cruise line addresses and phone numbers or consult the book How To Get a Job with a Cruise Line.
Climbing the Ladder
Assistant cruise directors and other cruise staff can move up the ladder to more supervisory and managerial positions. They need to demonstrate that they have organizational skills and that they can delegate and manage people. They also have to be good at detail work and paperwork.
Sometimes earning a promotion has to do with how much experience you have, how good you are-or who has quit or died. As one assistant cruise director pointed out, "It's a good job and most people, once in, don't want to leave."
Firsthand Accounts
Beverley Citron, Assistant Cruise Director
Beverley Citron began working on cruise ships at the age of twenty-one as a hairdresser. Realizing she would enjoy being part of the social staff more, she took time off to gain the necessary skills. Her hard work paid off, and she landed her first job as a youth counselor. She also worked as a sports director, and then was promoted to assistant cruise director.
"I've wanted to work on a ship since I was five years old. I was influenced by two of my uncles who were in the English Royal Navy. Every time they came ashore they'd show me home movies they'd taken of the blue waters of Australia or Hong Kong. All through my school years it was my goal.
"I started out working as a social director for a holiday resort and my local sailing club in England looking after children, planning and implementing their activities. I studied singing and the guitar, and then put together an act with musical arrangements and costumes. I was determined to get a job as a social staff member.
"After all those years of applying, when I finally got that letter in the mail saying 'Beverley, we have selected you to be a youth counselor...we'11 be sending you an air ticket...please get your visa sorted out...,' I was literally speechless. That was probably the happiest moment of my life."
Cruise Staff Duties
"The cruise staff are in charge of all the games, activities, and shore excursions for the passengers. In a way it's similar to being a camp counselor, but for adults. Youth counselors, of course, work with children.
"We make sure the passengers are having fun, and we try to come up with activities and events to capture their interest. We might organize a grandmother's tea or give an origami (paper folding) demonstration or stage a treasure hunt. When in port we might chaperone a group of passengers on a tour. Even between scheduled activities, we constantly interact and socialize with the passengers."
The Upsides and Downsides
"Working on a cruise ship is my dream job. Every morning I always looked forward to getting up and starting the day. I'm not an office person, it's very difficult for me to stay at a desk all day. I've got a lot of energy, and it's great for me being able to move about the ship making lots of friends, being busy.
'The people you work with become like a family. Sometimes you have to share a cabin and you become very close. Some people worry that working on a cruise ship would be a little like solitary confinement in a prison, that they wouldn't be allowed off of the ship for weeks at a time. But that is hardly the case. When you arrive in port, you always have an opportunity to go ashore. You can go to the beach, shopping, to nightclubs, discos. There are no days off while you're at sea, but you make up for that when you're in port.
"What I like least is having to watch the clock all day. You have to be on the sports deck by 9:00, down in the lounge by 9:30, getting ready in your cabin to be back up on the deck by 10:00, and so on. You're on a rigid time schedule.
"You have to be constantly energetic and cheerful, even when you don't feel like it. You could work up to fifteen hours a day, but what else are you going to do? The alternative is sitting in your cabin."
Advice on Getting That Job
"A lot of people give up too easily. They apply once or twice, and then get discouraged. I sent my resume out to thirty-six cruise lines every three months. For me it took a couple of years and a lot of patience. And over time, I perfected skills that I could add to my resume. Eventually, it paid off. You have to be persistent."
A Typical Day
8:00 Get up and have breakfast.
8:30 Go to the sports deck to make sure tapes are set up for aerobics classes.
9:00 Teach the class for thirty minutes.
9:30 Sign up passengers for shuffleboard tournament.
9:45 Supervise tournament.
10:45 Sign up passengers for ring toss.
11:00 Teach passengers how to play ring toss.
11:30 Socialize with passengers.
noon Have lunch break, then do paperwork or take short nap.
2:00 Go to sports deck for informal play, explain rules of various games, and continue to announce upcoming events.
3:00 Go to basketball game.
3:45 Get tapes ready for afternoon aerobics class.
4:00 Teach aerobics.
4:30 Pack up sports deck for the day.
5:00 Get showered and dressed for cocktail party.
5:10 Attend cocktail party.
6:30 Take dinner break.
7:30 Get ready for evening Bingo game.
8:00 Supervise Bingo game.
10:00 Attend dancing under the stars.
12:00 Supervise midnight buffet.
What Made It All Worthwhile
"Years ago, when I started as a youth counselor, there was a little ten-year-old boy who came on the ship with his parents maybe twice a year for three years. He stayed by my side the whole time, always interested, always asking if he could help. When I was off duty, he'd beg his mother to take him to meet me for tea.
"The years went by and I lost touch with him. Later, when I was working in a school to train cruise personnel, one of the other teachers took a group of trainees on a tour of a ship. She met one of the ship's assistant cruise directors and asked him to show her trainees around. After the tour, the floor was opened to questions. Someone wanted to know how he had gotten involved with this kind of work.
"He told them how he had started going on cruises at the age of ten, and that he had been strongly influenced by one lady he'll never forget. 'She got me interested in cruising,' he told the trainees. 'I stuck to her like a stamp to a letter, trying to learn everything I could. I told her that one day I'd be working on a ship, and here I am.'
'The other teacher asked what the lady's name was and he told her-Beverley Citron. She arranged a reunion for us. I felt so good knowing that I had influenced someone like that."
Frank Cassisa, Certified Personal Trainer
Frank Cassisa is a certified personal trainer at a national health and fitness chain.
What the Job's Really Like
"Fitness instruction is just like computers; it's always changing, and there's always something new coming out. To be the best trainer, you have to stay on top of everything.
"One of the best settings is working in a health club. You don't have to generate business because the business is already there in the club. You also can have a private practice, at your own place or going to people's homes. But once you're outside of a club set-ting, you're talking totally different insurance coverage. If you work out of your own home or in a client's home you need to cover yourself. You're more open for a lawsuit. At a club you come under their insurance.
"I work for a club and I'm covered by their insurance, but even then it doesn't mean someone couldn't come after me personally. But it would have to be plain stupidity to do something that could cause a client to get hurt. Safety is the key.
"We have to check the equipment before the client actually uses that equipment. You have to be fully aware of the human body and how it should move and shouldn't move. If there are any complications or special populations you're working with, diabetics, for example, or rehab cardiac patients, people with arthritis, or pregnant women, there are different ways to train them.
"When you're a certified personal trainer you not only learn about nutrition and kinesiology-which is the study of the movement of the body, learning how the muscles react to certain exercises-you also learn first aid. All certified personal trainers must be certified in CPR.
"With the general population, people who want to improve their fitness, you first have to take a health history, get the doctor's name and number, and ask the right questions: age, smoking, any history of health risk factors. If we think some people are not ready for a training program, we'll refuse them and have them contact their doctor for a physical.
"The perfect scenario for someone not ready is the forty-five-year-old male who smokes, is overweight, and has somebody in his family with diabetes. This person could be a walking time bomb. It would be up to the doctor to do a stress test to see if the patient is ready. We don't do any diagnosing. We're not doctors or dietitians; we have to refer people to professionals if we can't answer their questions or if their condition needs medical attention.
"If a client is a go-ahead, we assess him or her and try to get in all the elements of physical fitness such as flexibility, muscular strength and endurance, cardiovascular endurance, and body composition. Normally a training session is an hour. Clients come once or twice a week to meet with the trainer. And they should come on their own the other days."
How Frank Got Started
"For me it's always been my hobby, but now I'm getting paid for it. I studied through ACE and took their two-part exam, a written and a practical. I love to work out and I love to teach people. I work five days a week. When I take my two-hour lunch break I'm working out. You have to be driven and absorb the whole lifestyle."
Advice from Frank
"You need a great attitude and you have to practice what you preach. To a client you're a friend, father figure, role model. They'll follow someone who has the results they're looking for.
"Caring is also important. You need a firm hand but diplomatic skills. You're an instructor, not a dictator."
Roberta Updegraff, Church Youth Leader
Roberta Updegraff has been a youth leader with the Lycoming Presbyterian Church in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, since 1990. In addition to her teacher certification for K-12, she has taken courses in Christian education and youth work, including family, child, and adolescent psychology. She also has participated in church sponsored workshops.
How Roberta Got Started
"Nothing in particular 'drew' me to working with young people- I discovered I liked them! When I graduated from college and began substituting, I ended up in middle school (substitute teacher purgatory). I found I could roll with the punches and throw a few of my own.
"Adolescent antics haven't changed much in twenty-odd years, so I've been able to navigate the pitfalls with a sense of humor. For example, when students sit in the wrong seat, I call them by the other name all day. They think me stupid, and are having so much fun duping me; they don't bother with other pranks. I enjoy the game. One day John was sitting in Amy's seat and I told him I felt sorry for him. I said that facial hair was a definite dating handicap on a girl, but he'd make a darn good-looking guy. That was years ago, and I still call him Amy when I see him at the high-school.
"I believe because I'm happily married, love learning, and love life, I have an infectious spirit that makes me a natural teacher. I'm firm in standing by my convictions and expectations, but I'm fair, too. I make no bones about classroom misbehavior I will not tolerate. I require respect between fellow classmates and in our relationship with each other.
"Students are expected to be responsible 'employees.' This is their job, and they'd better come to class prepared to do it. That means pencil, paper, textbook, and a cooperative spirit. There are no handouts in my class. If you don't have a pencil, borrow one before I take roll, or buy one from me. If you don't bring an assignment or book, you're out. I send unprepared students to their locker, then to the in-school suspension room to do the class work.
"Once I discovered I could coach in a classroom, youth work seem the natural extension. When I teach in a public school I touch the future-when I teach in a church youth group, I believe I touch eternity.
"I'm a pretty good storyteller, and I seem to be able to make the Bible come alive with illustrations young people identify with. And I bring my love of learning and God to encouraging spiritual growth in young people.
"In a way, I was dragged into youth work by my teenage son and his friends. Our church didn't have a formal youth group, but we had kids! At times, it seemed we were in danger of being overrun with bored adolescents. So one thing led to another, and I've been doing the job ever since.
"What keeps me working with the kids is they want so badly to be listened to; they crave praise and encouragement. And when an adolescent calls you friend, he or she means it."
What the Job Is Like
"Every Friday after school, between twelve and thirty middle schoolers hang out in our church basement, for what they fondly call FAF (Friday after Four). I give them time to unwind, listening to contemporary religious music and munching out on snacks and soda. Two other volunteers and myself use the time to listen and to get to know the kids better.
"One of the youths is responsible for organizing and leading a game or relay, which we play after a half-hour social time. (I supply them with idea books the week before. This saves me choosing a game they would deem 'totally lame.' They'll go along with the zaniest youth-initiated activities, games they'd refuse to participate in if I chose them.)
"I then coach a half-hour Bible study. We stick to the Gospels, since many of the kids are unchurched school friends. I try not to interject my opinions, but encourage 'kid talk,' backed-up by 'digging into the scriptures.' We have prayer time, where kids break up into covenant groups and pray for one another.
"During the week I attend their school activities and take time to drop them a note on some positive thing I've observed. I send birthday cards or a 'missed you' note. Sunday mornings I lead church school and feel like a sheep dog! It's a chaotic time I personally wish would disappear into extinction. Sunday school, even the sound of it, is scary!
"And kids are not thrilled about rolling out of bed early on Sunday morning to come and do paperwork! I try to make it hands-on, with a lot of drama, simulation, and lively discussion. But if I had my way, we'd have brown-bag Bible study on Saturday or Sunday afternoon instead. But 'this is the way it's always been done.' (At least since Sunday school opened the door for public education over a hundred years ago!)
"I'm a member of the Youth Advisory Board and the Christian Education Committee, and I am expected to submit a youth report, as well as write a youth newsletter.
"This is a part-time job, but it takes a full-time heart. Youth ministry has been a job that stretches, frustrates, and most of all transforms me. I have learned to be a better listener to my own children by experiencing the loneliness of many of these kids. I don't take my children's mood swings so personally. (An adolescent boy has more hormones pumping through his body every day than a woman in the throes of PMS-hence I say they have AHS, or Adolescent Hormone Syndrome.)
"I've learned humility by being embarrassed in about every way possible. I've learned to ski and moderately like MTV. And a human can survive a weekend of sleep deprivation. I know enough to hide my underwear at the overnights (notice they're not sleepovers--there's no sleep!) lest I find them frozen solid at the foot of my sleeping bag.
"Imagine spending time in the chrysalis during metamorphosis. That's what I think it's like being a junior high youth leader. They start out fat, greedy, self-centered caterpillars, and through adolescence learn to give, accept, and put others first. They come out round about their sophomore year more confident about them-selves and better citizens because they're motivated not by rules, but by virtue.
"There's a lot of buzz about values and moral education, but I think it's religion that gives the internal motive to aspire to a higher calling. It seems to me impossible to teach honesty, citizenship, or compassion with talking about God. That's what makes youth work so important. I believe in walking the talk. Living a life others notice. Doing the 'right thing' just because it's that. The world is in dire need of heroes and heroines, and I believe I've been called to help young people build character, day-by-day, decision-by-decision, so when the chips are down, this character shines for the entire world to notice and benefit from.
"Every other year we take our church youth on a summer-servant experience to Appalachia, where we repair a home for a disadvantaged family or elderly person. The kids do the work. Important jobs like rebuilding steps, caulking windows, tarring a roof, even though at home they've been asked to do little more than take the garbage out.
"I have seen fifty snapshots of caulked windows and repaired screen doors from dozens of different cameras, and I've come to understand how life-changing mission work can be for young people.
"When one rather materialistic and obnoxious fifteen-year-old brought his Gameboy along, despite the fact it was forbidden, he learned a lesson he'll carry with him his whole life. There were two little boys living with their grandmother and a single mom in the house we were working on. These guys had no toys and they slept on a dirty mattress on the floor. This family lived in material poverty, but what shocked this boy the most was the emotional poverty-the biting put-downs, yelling, hitting-things he himself had never experienced.
"Late in the week, this teen let the older boy hold the Gameboy, then play with it 'just a little.' (He didn't want to wear out the batteries!) Finally on the last day, he gave it and his bag full of cartridges to the boys. What a precious moment.
"When asked what he learned through the experience, he said, 'I thought I came to West Virginia to build a house. I found out the house rebuilt me.' I cried.
"Even though most of those work camp days, the only spirit I saw was a bar of soap, there were dozens of moments just like that one. And I feel privileged to be used by God in such an important way!"
THE DOWNSIDES
"Now don't think everything is peaches and cream! Parent volunteers cancel at the last minute, leaving me scrambling to get drivers and things covered. Somebody's always upset with me about something: I didn't give them enough notice, or they didn't like the lesson I taught their kid, or why doesn't our church have hundreds of youths involved like the Presbyterian church across town does?
"Kids are always broke and I'm always lending them money they forget to pay back. Guaranteed, wherever we go someone forgets something. We backtracked ten miles when an expensive pair of Umbros 'accidentally' fell out of the church van window. Of course parents were upset we were twenty minutes late getting back to the church.
'They've always got a crisis. Sometimes it's heart-wrenching. It takes a whole lot of energy and commitment to be involved in their lives.
"Church leaders think I can do a hundred extra 'little things,' because they're related to my teaching position. And everybody's got a better way of doing things or an idea I just have to try."
Advice from Roberta
"My advice? Pray, pray, pray! Then roll up your sleeves and work humbly and joyfully. The next generation depends on you!"
Courtney Jackson, Zoo Volunteer
Courtney is a junior in high school and has been a volunteer worker at a metropolitan zoo and aquarium since she was in the third grade. Here is her account:
"At first I helped out at special events, and then I worked in the gift shop. The years after that I spent in a puppeteering program and in a teenagers' education program called ZAP! That allows kids to learn and help out in all areas of the zoo, with a focus on public relations.
"I worked as a guide for the temporary dinosaur exhibit and followed that with my first year as a summer/winter day camp counselor.
"Since then I've worked each summer as a counselor. I got interested in the zoo when my mother started volunteering there, and when she began working there and signing me up for things, I just jumped into the swing of everything. I meet so many people in every department, and everyone wants people to help out or be involved, so it's really easy to do a lot of things that are related, but not 'the same.'"
What the Work Is Like
"I can honestly say that it's the most interesting, most exciting, and absolutely the most fulfilling job I've ever had. I spend most of my time with kids and the smaller, trained animals, and an enormous amount of time with just the everyday zoo visitor. That's really the best part-meeting all the people. I have to say, even if one is the zookeeper, a job at the zoo means communication and dedication. It's not a nine-to-five, half-commitment type thing. You really have to love it and love everything about it, because a lot of things can happen, and everyone has to be prepared for anything and everything.
"It's a ton of fun, though. I wear jeans and shorts, but most of the more official people have to wear uniforms.
"I spend the majority of my time in the summer camp, an area of the education department. I work at camp from 8:00 A.M. to 3:00 P.M. I have to get to the zoo early to clean the room, make Kool Aid, set up and make sample crafts, get the name tags, etc. I also spend that time eating breakfast with my co-workers, reading books from the zoo library, running copies, chopping up fruit and veggies, playing with the education animals, even helping out (if absolutely needed) in the gift shop.
"By the time the kids get there, we have to be armed with badges, walkie-talkies, sign-out sheets, Band Aids in our pockets- you know the drill. Everything to be prepared to take twenty-five kids around the zoo for a day.
"Each age group has a classroom where we eat, play, make crafts, watch videos, have animal visitors, and play games. We use them as home bases because we spend most of our time touring the exhibits and the behind-the-scenes areas, and occasionally feeding the animals. After the kids leave, we have to clean up, plan the next day, and we often help each other out in setting up and/or cleaning. It sounds relatively easy and not very stressful, and it is, usually; but we almost always have some kind of emergency situation every day. Remember, we are responsible for twenty-five kids in each group in the zoo, which means that there are about 125 kids in all running around the zoo. That leaves a lot of room for scraped knees, hats dropped in the exhibits, animals getting loose, belongings getting lost, kids getting sick, animals getting scared. You name it, it happens. And those many little things are what the radios are for.
"Another one of my favorite things about the zoo is that you can never get bored with it. Something exciting happens every day, and everyone has to help out in solving the problem. I work in education, a lot of my friends work in membership and security, and my mother works in retail: I've seen us all working on the same problem at once and getting it fixed in record time. It's amazing what can get accomplished at the zoo.
"It's pretty relaxed, when there's not some huge problem going on. People who are visiting are happy; they come to the zoo because they want to be there, and the people who work at the zoo work there because they love and want to work there. Everyone is in a good mood. That means that there's a lot of laughter, a little leeway, and pretty much a healthy atmosphere."
The Upsides and Downsides
"Those three things: the optimistic, happy atmosphere; the daily excitement; and the dedication and love that all the workers feel for their jobs are really the best part about working at the zoo. The only bad things are the natural occurrences that could happen anywhere: if an animal dies, everyone's sad about it; if someone or something is sick, everyone cares for it and worries about it.
When the weather's rainy or really, really cold, everyone likes to hide inside, and there aren't many visitors; however, it's fun to watch the animals enjoy any type of unusual weather.
"The best thing about it is the love it creates in everyone. Even if someone has not intended to get so involved, it kind of pulls you into the swing of everything. Seeing animals everyday has made me want to learn about each of them, as a species and as individuals. The same goes for the people. All kinds of people work at the zoo. There's a feeling of community and friendship. I love being there and thinking about it, and just being involved with any zoo function. Once you get into any aspect of the zoo, it's hard to not get involved with everything else, or to get out of it. It's very much a job of passion, for you have to love what you're doing and know how to do it. At the zoo it's not hard to fall in love-fast."
Advice from Courtney
'To someone who wants to get involved with a zoo, I say do it-in any measure, way, shape, or form. Whether the time agent makes it a large part of the schedule or a small part, you should get involved. Also take it easy, don't rush in too much. Every zoo is different for every different person, and it takes a while to get into everything you want to do. Be friendly and make as many friends as you can. That's almost the entire point of working in such a huge and fun environment.
"I honestly think that it's the most fun job a person could have. Everyone learns a lot, and not only may you affect the visitors, but the animals as well. And I have to warn you, they'll affect you, too.
"And I know that no matter where I go when I'm traveling, I'll be able to go to the local zoo and be comfortable around people and animals I know about."
