“I have been working for the Y for the past 6 years, since I was a senior in high school – but my Y story started in 2008. My friend asked me if I would be interested in going to an overnight camp with her, Camp Speers-Eljabar YMCA in Pennsylvania. I also became a member at the Rahway Y that year and went on to spend 10 summers at Camp Speers, first as a camper and eventually as a senior counselor. I came to the Fanwood-Scotch Plains Y when I was a senior at Union County Vo-Tech with a focus in Child Development. I interned with the Y’s former Kinderwrap program to get my first real teaching experience. This internship led to a lifeguard/swim instructor position in aquatics as well. I stayed with Child Care as I entered college and have been working at the Y since! I really love the sense of community that I feel I am a part of every time I enter the Y. I have had co-workers become my close friends, and I have gotten to make connections with families as their children have grown up. I love being able to be a part of the children’s lives as they grow up. I have so much fun with the kids and I really enjoy being able to see how they grow from infants to young children in the blink of an eye. From being so excited for the kids when they find out they are going to be a big brother or sister, to celebrating birthdays, potty training successes, and Paw Patrol dance parties, I love every minute I get to spend with these kids! I started off 2020 working in Child Care before I headed back to The College of New Jersey for my senior spring semester. I had planned to return for spring break, but then the pandemic began. In December, I finally got back to work at the Y after finishing my fall semester. Although it is different than I had left it, I am so happy to be back!”