Jobs I've Had: Pool Aid
Summer of 93
The primary duty was to sit at the top of the water slides and tell people when it was OK to go. The job also involved doing any and all tasks that no one else wanted to do, such asÉ Well, let's just say there was a lot of poop involved.

Lifeguard
94 through 97
Made over 20 career saves and did a lot of patching up cuts, bruises and the like. I totally dug this job.

Pool Operator / Lifeguard Supervisor
Summer of 97
Ran a bunch of pools for the local YMCA. My first taste of management and hopefully my last. I ended up working 80-hour weeks and dealing with everything from overflowing toilets to employees who were chronically unable to show up for work.

Orientation Leader
Summer of 98
Helped run the incoming freshmen orientation sessions that ran throughout the summer. Had a blast working with great people in a really fun environment.

Videoconferencing Network Operator
Winter of 98/99
My first college internship. I ran the day-to-day of a videoconferencing network connecting the corporate offices of Smithkline Beecham (now Glaxo Smithkline). Got to deal quite a lot with the people running one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies. A highly educational experience.

Contributing Editor
Fall of 98 through Fall 00
For an arts and entertainment website in Philly during the height of the dot.com fiasco. I mostly wrote about the local rock scene but occasionally would cover clubs and even fashion shows. I don't think anyone at the company ever thought we'd turn a profit, but we sure did have a blast with all the investor money that was pouring in.

Photographer
For the same website.

Instructor/Curriculum Developer/Consultant
Winters of 99/00 and 00/01
My second and third college internships were with PricewaterhouseCoopers, which was the largest consulting and accounting firm back before the whole Enron thing put an end to that kind of company. For the winter of 00/01 they put me up in a hotel in Tampa, FL with a company car and everything. They paid me absurdly well and billed me out at an even more absurd rate. I taught students from all over the world how to be e-business consultants... As if I had a clue myself.

Rock Climbing Instructor / Route Setter
Most of 01 and 02
A fun job I did while finishing up college. I would teach people how to belay, the basics of climbing, and occasionally set climbing routes.

High School Teacher
02/03 School Year
So, the IT bubble burst right before graduation and I quickly realized I had no interest in the actual work I was doing, only the money I was being paid to do it. I decided that if I was going to be underpaid, I might as well be doing something I could feel good about. I think I was spoiled by my experiences teaching adults because I was not prepared for being a disciplinarian/teacher rather than a friend/teacher. Big difference.

Retail Sales Clerk
Summer and Fall of 03
This was just a part-time job I did while finishing up my prerequisites for nursing school. It was usually pretty fun, but it got real old during the Christmas season. My last day was a 12-hour shift on Christmas Eve. I worked in an outdoor store and spent way too much of my salary on the merchandise I was supposed to be selling.

Guide Instructor
Winter of 04 through Spring of 05
While in nursing school I took on the role of teaching what I could to the student-guides who ran all kinds of really cool trips for other students. I mostly taught them how to teach rock climbing and set up anchors for toproping. I also taught a class dealing with the treatment of anaphylaxis in a wilderness environment.

Wilderness Guide
Summer of 05
I spent an awesome summer running trips for incoming freshmen during which I got all expenses paid trips to Yosemite and Glacier National Parks. We did hiking, backpacking, and rock climbing. I think the kids had almost as much fun as I did.

ER Nurse - big university hospital
August of 05 through January of 2008
The longest I've ever held a job. Definitely one of the best I've had. I got to take care of some ridiculously sick patients and some ridiculously stupid patients. Far and away the best: A guy who was cleaning a weed-wacker with gasoline, in an unventilated shed, while smoking, with his oxygen on. He was special.

Agency Nurse
2007
A job I did to fill the gaps after I was winding down the above job and looking for my next great adventure. I got some great experience working in lots of different settings, but I hated the work. I didn't like always working in different hospitals and not knowing my coworkers

ER Nurse - small community hospital
November 2007 to present
I mainly took this job because it was a mile and a half from my house, but I think I'm going to like it a lot. I feel like a bigger part of my community and it's a pretty cool job. We (the nurses) work with an astounding amount of autonomy compared to everywhere else I've worked.

Nursing Instructor
January of 2008 through present
I am really excited about this job. I get to teach future nurses how to do the basic skills of their jobs.

---