Official Departure Date

It's official. I am leaving for Oahu on the 3rd of September and my flight back is on the 7th of December. I'm super excited and can't wait to get to work! I've updated my Tetanus shot, Hep A shot, and gotten a TB test. I wont know about TB til tomorrow, but I'm thinking I'm fine (especially since it is 2008 and I live in the US).

The Verdict

For anyone who didn't already know this, I have chosen to take a year off of school in order to look into transferring....I will definitely miss all of my Wesleyan friends a ton and hope to see them when I can. I have been applying for jobs in Hawaii and New Hampshire, jobs that seem like perfect fits for me during this time of my life

So, it is almost official. I have been offered a job on the Island of Oahu, Hawaii. As soon as the background check goes through, I will be able to purchase my plane ticket to the island (which the YMCA will reimburse). The job that I have decided to take for this coming semester involves being a camp counselor for a camp that the YMCA runs on the Northwest coast of Oahu. Teachers can schedule trips for their class to come and stay at the camp, Camp Erdman, for up to a week at a time.

According to the Camp Erdman, these are descriptions of the camps of which I will be employed.

"YMCA Camp Erdman has an Environmental Education program that is available for Elementary school students in grades K-6th. We also have a Leadership program that is designed for students in 7th-12th grade. Both programs offer educational, fun and challenging activities that will allow students to grow and learn in an outdoor setting."

So basically what I have gotten from the website and from talking to the man who interviewed me, I will be helping to teach children how to do a variety of things...Here is a list of things stated on the website....

Archery, Beach Ecology, The Beast (I'm really hoping that this is similar to the thing from "Heavyweights"), Botany, Endangered Species, Geology, Group Challenges, Kamani Nut Necklaces, Mauka Hikes, Nature Art, Orienteering, Bird Study, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Critter Safari, Animal Adaptations, Swimming, Cooperative Games, Map Masters, Astronomy, Night Exploring, Scavenger Hunts, Ropes Course...

There are a ton of other things that I get to do and teach as well, and I am SUPER excited about it. Hopefully my future posts will be much more interesting than this one, I just can't get everything out that I want to say, so it's pretty choppy.

Random Facts

-The Island of Oahu is 44x30 miles (smaller than Lexington!)

-I get to get a Hawaii drivers license (oh heeeeyyyy Superbad)

-A huge national surf competition is going to be there while I'm there.

So, as soon as my background check goes through, I will buy a plane ticket. I'm thinking that I will probably leave around the 26th or 27th of August. I am going to be in Atlanta from the 7th-19th, and I'd like to have some time to go visit Wesleyan and get things together here in Lexington before I leave. You should probably keep checking this website now and then because I am going to try my best to keep it up, and I am sure there will be some wonderful, and funny, stories from this job. I feel like such an adventurer...like Indiana Jones (damn the girl who uses my name as her porn name and already stole the title "Alabama Jones and the Busty Crusade"....I could have used that as my autobiography title...)