My Winter Break '11-'12

So this is my first blog… bear with me I have never done this before. I suppose I have never really made the time for it, but hey, everybody has to start somewhere right? So let’s start things off right shall we?

 My name is Kendra Skinner and I am a Physical Education Major at SUNY Cortland. We have just recently returned from our Winter Break which I did not get much of a break at all…

I spent the last month staying occupied with a multitude of different things. For starters I had the opportunity to start a new job. This great opportunity was presented to me by Greek Peak Mountain Resort working as a Ski instructor. I have been skiing ever since 4^th grade in elementary school ski club. I try to get to a mountain every winter to ski. So when the opportunity was open to actually work on a mountain for the winter, I could not pass it up!

In the past I have only worked in fast food because it was the only jobs available at the time. I was definitely nervous to start this new job because of the fact it was so different from what I was used to. Thankfully in order to get the job I had to attend a series of training sessions to meet Greek Peak’s ski instructor standards.

Here I met lots of new people and friends. The best part was every one of them was willing to lend a hand and any information that could help me become a better instructor. Every tid-bit I learned and teaching tricks I could pull out of my pocket helped me become a more efficient instructor. Now I am able to give a successful skiing lesson that is effective and informative thanks to the great people of Greek Peak who trained me and helped me to get to this point. I am happy to have this job because it is full of opportunities. Even though I have already completed my training, Greek Peak offers many other clinics that can help me further enhance my teaching techniques. I love teaching and I love being able to gain more helpful knowledge along the way.
By starting work here I got a opprotunity too work with many ski students of all ages. I learned that teaching adults is much different than teaching children. While working with so many different people all day long it gives me opprotunities to try new teaching methods and cues to further advance each of my students.I like to bring enthusiasm to my class so that everyone can enjoy what we are doing together.

While all of that craziness was going on I was still able to attend two winter session courses to gain 2 credits to further my education. Rhythms and Dance was one class, followed by Self- Defense. These classes were so much fun I could not believe I was going to school. I learned a lot of new techniques from each class and overall had a fun time doing it. Learning Rhythms and Dance brings that creative and social element to any student's life, and learning Self Defencse is beneficial for safety situations in life.

Even though I did not really get a break from the craziness of life, I sure am grateful for the time and opportunities I had over this time. So lets cheer for the New Year of 2012 and hope many new opportunities arise!

:)