Internship
Kobe Hutchinson
Senior Internship
Lake Merritt Boating Center Counselor in Training (CIT)
Introduction
The responsibility of the CIT is to help aid the instructors at Lake Merritt Boating Center and the Jack London Aquatic Center teach sailing and boating skills to their students.
There are 4 groups at Lake Merritt:
Explorers: 3rd to 5th graders, using non-sailboats, like canoes and kayaks.
Basic Sailing: ages 9 to 14, teaching basic sailing skills on a boat called an Opti.
Intermediate Sailing: ages 10 to 15, teaching sailing on more diverse boats, like sunfish, catalinas, and Hobie Wave catamarans.
Junior Leadership: the 1 week training period for kids to become a CIT
There are 2 groups at Jack London
Advanced Sailing/Racing: Kids learn high speed sailing on boats called Bytes, made by the world famous Laser company.
Catamaran Camp: Advanced bay sailing on high speed Hobie Cat catamarans.
I have been a CIT for 3 summers now, but I was forced to do the Junior Leadership again due to missing one summer. This is a good 2nd starting point to document the internship.
Journal 1 Junior Leadership
This is my second Junior Leadership I have done. It was quite an easy week, as nothing was difficult for me. I already had a lot of experience before this point, but nonetheless it wasn’t boring. I made some good friends and re-established myself as a CIT. In Junior Leadership we basically spent time with all of the camps happening at the lake at that time, which were the Explorers and Basic Sailors. I loved it.
Journal 2 Intermediate Sailing
Intermediate sailing is by far my favorite class offered in the entire program. It’s really fun, it’s not a lot of work, and whether you’re a CIT or a Camper, you’re gonna have fun. The boats used were the Sunfish, Catalinas, Hobie Wave catamarans, and the Laser Pico. This is the week where the campers really start to get some valuable experience with sailboats. Once they complete this week, they’ll be knowledgeable enough to know what’s going on if they sail on a larger sailboat in the bay or ocean. These boats really encompass or summarize the categories of small sailing boats. This is definitely the funnest and most useful of the camps, and when I was a camper, I did it 4 or 5 times. This week I made some good friends and got respect from my instructors.
Journal 3 Explorers
A week with the explorers requires a lot of patience and ability with relatively small kids. Also, I knew to expect a lot of heavy lifting, as the muscle powered boats these kids used are all stored out of the water and they cannot lift them themselves as they are too small. Despite this, the week was a lot of fun. I spent a lot of time in kayaks alongside the kids, so that I could help them from an equal boat (they think it’s comfortable). The counselors really like that I am willing to skip the motorboat ride to kayak with the kids. The kids spend more time on land, too, like in the Japanese garden, and the bird sanctuary nearby. A really fun week.
Journal 4 Catamaran Camp
Catamaran Camp was something I had never done as a camper, not been a CIT for in the past. It was a completely new experience. Unlike Intermediate sailing, Catamaran camp is at Jack London Aquatic Center, which means the campers sail in the estuary and the bay. This is probably one of the funnest camps, for both the campers and the CIT. Basically, they train on some very fast catamarans in groups of 3 or 4 and on the final day, they sail up the estuary, out into the bay, and to Treasure Island in the middle of the bay to eat lunch. I get to ride a motorboat out there and it it’s extremely fun. The kids had a blast. Really fast and complex sailing, this is sort of a final test for campers to become eligible for CIT positions, (either this or advanced sailing.)
Closing Statement:
To conclude, I would really like to thank everyone at my internship. My supervisor, my instructors, my campers, and my fellow CITs were all great, everyone was friendly, everything was fun. This is my third year doing this CIT program, and I am finally old enough to become a paid employee. This was a really great journey for me, and I know for sure that I am going to love this job. I learned how to have patience, understanding, helpfulness, and some responsibility. I had only been a CIT for 4 weeks this summer, and I would have done more weeks, but unfortunately I had a family trip to go on. (Twas a fun trip though.) I hope that in the future, my work at the LMBC will continue to by fun and interesting.
This internship has made me a better person, and has greatly raised my appreciation for sailing and boating, as well as teaching kids how to do cool activities and get involved. I will always remember this throughout my life, and hopefully it will serve as my employment in the summer for the years to come. In essence, it’s the best job you could ask for. I absolutely love what I do here. I have very little issue with it, and I don’t mind at all spending time and time again doing my best at this camp. I really wish there was more to say, but it is that simple.
Senior Internship
Lake Merritt Boating Center Counselor in Training (CIT)
Introduction
The responsibility of the CIT is to help aid the instructors at Lake Merritt Boating Center and the Jack London Aquatic Center teach sailing and boating skills to their students.
There are 4 groups at Lake Merritt:
Explorers: 3rd to 5th graders, using non-sailboats, like canoes and kayaks.
Basic Sailing: ages 9 to 14, teaching basic sailing skills on a boat called an Opti.
Intermediate Sailing: ages 10 to 15, teaching sailing on more diverse boats, like sunfish, catalinas, and Hobie Wave catamarans.
Junior Leadership: the 1 week training period for kids to become a CIT
There are 2 groups at Jack London
Advanced Sailing/Racing: Kids learn high speed sailing on boats called Bytes, made by the world famous Laser company.
Catamaran Camp: Advanced bay sailing on high speed Hobie Cat catamarans.
I have been a CIT for 3 summers now, but I was forced to do the Junior Leadership again due to missing one summer. This is a good 2nd starting point to document the internship.
Journal 1 Junior Leadership
This is my second Junior Leadership I have done. It was quite an easy week, as nothing was difficult for me. I already had a lot of experience before this point, but nonetheless it wasn’t boring. I made some good friends and re-established myself as a CIT. In Junior Leadership we basically spent time with all of the camps happening at the lake at that time, which were the Explorers and Basic Sailors. I loved it.
Journal 2 Intermediate Sailing
Intermediate sailing is by far my favorite class offered in the entire program. It’s really fun, it’s not a lot of work, and whether you’re a CIT or a Camper, you’re gonna have fun. The boats used were the Sunfish, Catalinas, Hobie Wave catamarans, and the Laser Pico. This is the week where the campers really start to get some valuable experience with sailboats. Once they complete this week, they’ll be knowledgeable enough to know what’s going on if they sail on a larger sailboat in the bay or ocean. These boats really encompass or summarize the categories of small sailing boats. This is definitely the funnest and most useful of the camps, and when I was a camper, I did it 4 or 5 times. This week I made some good friends and got respect from my instructors.
Journal 3 Explorers
A week with the explorers requires a lot of patience and ability with relatively small kids. Also, I knew to expect a lot of heavy lifting, as the muscle powered boats these kids used are all stored out of the water and they cannot lift them themselves as they are too small. Despite this, the week was a lot of fun. I spent a lot of time in kayaks alongside the kids, so that I could help them from an equal boat (they think it’s comfortable). The counselors really like that I am willing to skip the motorboat ride to kayak with the kids. The kids spend more time on land, too, like in the Japanese garden, and the bird sanctuary nearby. A really fun week.
Journal 4 Catamaran Camp
Catamaran Camp was something I had never done as a camper, not been a CIT for in the past. It was a completely new experience. Unlike Intermediate sailing, Catamaran camp is at Jack London Aquatic Center, which means the campers sail in the estuary and the bay. This is probably one of the funnest camps, for both the campers and the CIT. Basically, they train on some very fast catamarans in groups of 3 or 4 and on the final day, they sail up the estuary, out into the bay, and to Treasure Island in the middle of the bay to eat lunch. I get to ride a motorboat out there and it it’s extremely fun. The kids had a blast. Really fast and complex sailing, this is sort of a final test for campers to become eligible for CIT positions, (either this or advanced sailing.)
Closing Statement:
To conclude, I would really like to thank everyone at my internship. My supervisor, my instructors, my campers, and my fellow CITs were all great, everyone was friendly, everything was fun. This is my third year doing this CIT program, and I am finally old enough to become a paid employee. This was a really great journey for me, and I know for sure that I am going to love this job. I learned how to have patience, understanding, helpfulness, and some responsibility. I had only been a CIT for 4 weeks this summer, and I would have done more weeks, but unfortunately I had a family trip to go on. (Twas a fun trip though.) I hope that in the future, my work at the LMBC will continue to by fun and interesting.
This internship has made me a better person, and has greatly raised my appreciation for sailing and boating, as well as teaching kids how to do cool activities and get involved. I will always remember this throughout my life, and hopefully it will serve as my employment in the summer for the years to come. In essence, it’s the best job you could ask for. I absolutely love what I do here. I have very little issue with it, and I don’t mind at all spending time and time again doing my best at this camp. I really wish there was more to say, but it is that simple.