I'm so stoked. While I'm out in California this summer I'll have a second job teaching swimming lessons.
I love teaching swimming lessons. I've done it every summer (except 3) since 1989. When I was a little kid, even as I struggled to pass Beginner's, I got it into my head that when I grew up I wanted to be a swimming teacher. So I did.
The first year, when I was 15, I was an aide to some not very good teachers, so I effectively taught the classes myself. By the next summer I'd gotten my lifeguarding certificatation so I got to have my own classes. Then when I was 17 I got my Water Safety Instructor certification. Lots of facilities will let people with just Lifeguarding teach lessons, but they prefer to have WSIs since this is the certification that says you're actually qualified to teach Red Cross lessons.
To keep the WSI current, you need to teach one class every two years. So even as I've had day jobs and careers I've tried to make sure I could teach some classes. Partly to keep the certification current, and partly because I really like doing it. It's just so rewarding. I particularly like teaching little kids. Getting them to put their face in the water for the first time, getting them to float... it's wonderful. Some kids will pick it up the first time around; for others it takes more work. There's been some kids I've worked with an entire summer who finally get it at the end. It's a special kind of happy for both of us when that happens.
So even though I'm on a different trajectory now, building my career as a lawyer, I'm glad that I can keep the swimming lessons in my life. It's something that I feel really good about saying I do.