My name is Jack Scholes, I am 19 years old from Huddersfield. I recently undertook a project with Everything is Possible in Aruba living independently and working on De Palm Island, a resort for tourists and locals, as a lifeguard. I spent four months in Aruba from the end of November 2019 until the end of March 2020.
Throughout my time working at De Palm Island I took on many different roles in the job. Our main duty as lifeguards is to ensure the safety of everybody on the island and help anybody in need in the event of an incident. As well as keeping everyone safe, we had to make sure people were comfortable, relaxed and having fun. This meant we had to operate the slides, hand out snorkelling equipment, guide snorkel tours, help on the banana boat and man the children’s waterpark, which often meant being involved in water fights! As well as those duties, we had to stay behind in the evenings in order to clean and prep the island ready for the next day, picking up litter and cleaning all the equipment daily.
Each day the island would accommodate anywhere between 200-600 guests which would mean we would have the opportunity to interact with people from all different countries and cultures from around the world. Being able to speak to this many people allowed me to develop my confidence, especially in a professional setting. When taking people out for snorkelling tours and helping them on the banana boat you would often have to explain something to large groups of people which is something I wasn’t comfortable doing before I did the project but that along with a lot of other things got easier the more I did them.
Besides working on De Palm Island, I also had free time outside of work every day and 2 full days off per week. This meant I had loads of time to go out with friends, visit beaches, snorkel, go off-roading and generally explore the island. We met so many people in Aruba, the locals were all extremely friendly and made it feel like home from the minute we landed at the airport. I enjoyed all the culture Aruba had to offer including history and culture events and carnival, which was being celebrated all over Aruba for most of the time that I was there. I also Tried all sorts of new food, from Columbian food to classic Arubian dishes like Keshi Yena.
I learnt a lot while I was in Aruba. Professionally, I gained more confidence in communicating with people and explaining things to them, even when trying to overcome a language barrier. I learnt how to get along with people from different backgrounds and cultures in a professional way while making a lot of good friends along the way. Working on De Palm Island has allowed me to realise that I can push myself further than I thought I could before. I was worried about working in a new place with lots of new people and nobody I knew around me but it has allowed me to overcome that and I think I will be more ready to take on new challenges in the future. It also taught me the importance of being ready for work, having uniform washed and ready for the next day, showing up to work on time and knowing what my schedule was each week, generally looking after myself. It has allowed me to gain a lot of independence.
Project co-funded by the Erasmus+ programme of the European Union – The European Commission support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents which reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.