A WHAT?
A Water Safety Instructor is just another name for swimming instructor. And your probably thinking well that's weird why would you do that after you graduated with a B.S. degree and are already 23 years old?
So I'll address those two questions:
-After spending 5 years in undergrad and stressing to the point when I had a major health crisis my 3rd year of college…it was time for a change of pace. I knew that I could no longer go back to where I was my 3rd year of college while it's a constant struggle to keep my anxiety and stress in check. I know what it's like to hit rock bottom and I wasn't ready for stress to overwhelm me again. Upon graduation I knew that I wanted to go to law school and I needed to get a good score on the LSAT, so I decided to go for a job that had great flexibility, but also didn't place too much stress on me. Becoming a WSI fit both those things, and it promoted being healthy and having constant physical activity each week.
-23 years old and a WSI….is that weird? Actually NO! The age requirement is, I think you have to be at least 16 (I could be wrong so don't quote me on that), and I'm not the oldest WSI working at the pool I'm at. I honestly have had a great time thus far being a WSI and really wish I would have become one a lot sooner! I could have started working here during High School >:(
It's a great job to consider if you meet the age requirements, if not some pools will start you off by volunteering or as assistants.
My favorite part of being a WSI is seeing the progress students make overtime during the summer. When a certain student finally makes sense of a certain stroke (*cough* butterfly *cough*) it's super rewarding. Also it's great to see adults who have had no prior experience swimming learn to swim and even be comfortable with deep water.
I think learning to swim is such a critical skill to learn. You never know what could happen when your surrounded by a body of water, even if you never intended to get in the pool/lake/ocean in the first place. If you are in a shallow part of the pool/lake/ocean sometimes you can drift to deeper sections and it's important to know what to do when that happens, or if a loved one drifts and doesn't know how to swim.
