I went to my job taster session - My Trip to Tanzania (Post 4) - Lifestyle Monday
Hello everybody and welcome back to another blog post,
On Saturday, I went to my job taster session in Ipswich. As you guys already know, I applied to Project 21 because it was convenient timing for me and they were going to set up a school in Cambridge in January. However, because of Covid, they didn't quite have everything set up yet so I had to do an hours drive down to Ipswich to see them in action. I didn't have to go but I figured that if I wanted to make a good first impression, I probably should go so I did.
My dad was kind enough to take me there. We decided to get there an hour early so that we could get some lunch. I can't remember the place we ate at but the food was really nice and so was the customer service. Me and my dad both had a Hunter's barbeque chicken sandwich with salad but I had a side of onion rings whilst my dad had a side of cheesy chips. We had to kind of hurry the people along a bit because we realised that an hour wasn't enough time to eat but they were really kind about it and we were able to eat this delicious food on time.
The restaurant was really nice because it was just around the corner from the high school that I was going to have my session at. After we ate lunch, we went straight to the school. I was a bit early but Alex, the founder of Project 21, was actually standing at the front waiting for us to come. It was a really nice atmosphere from the beginning. They said "hi, are you Juliette?" and "are you Juliette's father?" From the very beginning, there was a really nice and welcoming atmosphere which is what I really liked.
They took my temperature before I came in and after my dad left to go and have a look around Ipswich, Alex gave me a quick tour and introduced me to all the workers there. They were all really nice and welcomed me into the group.
If you don't already know, Project 21 is a musical theatre group that works alongside children with Down's Syndrome. I was put into the main hall with the dance instructor who was going to take that class. We all wore our visors to keep safe and waited for the students to come in. A couple of them entered the room and you could tell that they weren't expecting me to be there. I was kind of awkwardly standing around waiting for more people to come in until a couple of the students came up to me and introduced themselves. If you've never spent time with someone who has Down's Syndrome then you won't know that they are really happy people to be around and it's impossible for you to have a bad vibe speaking to them.
For the first part of the class, a boy was picked to lead the warm up. It consisted of mostly just jumping around and doing lunges, which I found quite funny but you could tell that he was having a lot of fun, which was the main thing. The next part of the lesson, we went over some simple choreography that the students had been working on to show their parents. It was danced to Christmas music and it was a disco style of dance. I really liked it and you could tell that all the students were really excited to dance it. Then we had a short break. I tried to speak to this one student but she was non-verbal so she couldn't communicate that much. Then, we went back to the middle and finished off the dance. I had to encourage some of the students because some of them were tired and didn't want to continue. However, it was still an energetic atmosphere and I really liked working with the students.
For our last break, we all stopped to say happy 16th birthday to one of the students. She went round to everyone, including me, making sure that they said happy birthday to her and everyone did. I also got to eat a really nice Christmas themed cupcake in celebration. It was really tasty.
For the last part of the day, we went over another disco and upbeat style of dance. It was also done to Christmas music! 😂🕺🎶 It was really fun and I liked dancing it myself. However, my dad turned up early so at 3:15pm, I left the students and went back home. It was a long but also inspiring day. I have massive respect for people who work with children that have learning difficulties because I've found that it's really quite challenging. It was a lot of fun though and I know that when I start in January, I will get better at working with these students.
When you go to an interview like this, you're interviewing them just as much as they're interviewing you. I knew that Project 21 was going to be good but I didn't know just how good it was going to be. I thought that I would get a simple job to start off with but it turns out that I'm doing something really positive to help fundraise for Tanzania. I'm very happy with this job and I can't wait to start in January! 😊
Have you ever had a job interview/taster session? If so, what was it like? Let me know in the comments below and I'll be sure to reply to them. I ♡ hearing from you!
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See you next time,
Bye,
XOX, Juliette 💋
I do volunteer work with special needs adults and you are correct, they are a joy to be around. I can't wait until covid restrictions are over and we can be safe again because I really do miss being around all of them.
ReplyDeleteThat's amazing! I hope you get to work with them again soon. 😊❤️
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