Tobin's Reflection
Now that summer camp is coming to a close, explain 3 key takeaways from the experience? How will you apply it in the future?
1. I continued to grow my ability to be patient and empathetic. All of the children have unique and individual stories, and it was one of my responsibilities to accommodate all of them. My classes were pretty sizaable throughout the weeks, ranging from 20-25 kids so it definitely gave me the opportunity to improve.
2. I improved my collaboration skills. This is the biggest summer camp I’ve worked at, so there was definitely a lot to learn, from communication to management to how I interacted with other co-workers and classes. Summer camp gave me the opportunity to work alongside so many other people, with a wide range of different abilities and talents.
3. Lastly, I vastly grew my ability to lead. Getting kids to listen can be challenging, however there are many different tips and tricks I developed to get the children to participate in activities. Everything I’ve learned has contributed to the growth of my future. My ability to lead, collaboration, and empathy are all crucial to the relationships I build in the future.
Describe one of the biggest challenges you faced, how you overcame it, and what you learned from it.
1. Summer camp! I loved interacting and having fun with the kids, it made the time fly and gave me so many memories! I remember our Carnival day, where I was leading the water games station. I splashed so many people and so many people splashed me. That day was super fun.
2. Interviewing all the university co-ops for next cohort in one day. Catherine and I did nearly 40 interviews back to back. It was challenging, but definitely an incredible experience that allowed me to learn so much. I got to hear the stories of so many different candidates, truly growing my interviewing and interpersonal abilities.
3. My time at UTSC Launch. It was super fun connecting with other students while teaching others about our company! I was able to meet so many different types of people with differing interpersonal and technical capabilities.
To close off the term on a high note, what were 3 highlights from your time at U+?
1) The talent show on the last day of camp was definitely a highlight. Our junior class had 5 acts in the talent show from dancing to singing to doing pushups. It was so fun watching them rehearse and put on their performances in front of the rest of the camp. I know they all enjoyed performing their various talents as well.
2) Another highlight is when we had a camp-wide just dance event. It was so fun to see all the campers and counsellors dancing and having fun together.
3) The last highlight for me was running the Lego robotics workshop for St. Anne and Our Lady locations. Working with new campers at a different location was refreshing and I especially found the junior class at Our Lady to be so sweet and curious about Lego robotics.
What is some advice/tip that you would offer to future staff?
Be proactive, meet your coworkers, and have fun in the assigned tasks!
Please nominate someone who deserves the employee of the month award and explain why briefly. You can nominate more than one person.
Christina was really hard working and uplifted the team at Stonebridge.
