" The toad work" - A discussion on the positive aspects of work experience.
"Toads" by Philip Larkin is a poem in which the writer deals with the negative aspects of work. However, I must disagree with this view because over the period of a week spent at Harlequin House nursery I was given a glimpse of working life. Throughout I intend to talk about what I gained from work experience and what I found out about myself.
During my week at Harlequin House I felt I had a sense of responsibility and independence. On my first day I felt quite nervous and uneasy about how not only the staff would perceive me, but also about how the children would perceive me. However, I must say that from the moment I arrived I was treated with the same respect as any of the other nursery nurses. Throughout the week I got to know the staff and I was a friendly face to all of the extraordinary children. I spent my lunch breaks in the staff room with the other employees and this gave me a chance to find out more about them and what they thought it was like working there on a weekly basis. When working with the children I felt I was given a huge amount of responsibility, as I was able to interact with them and at the same time get used to each of their unique personalities. Since I was only there on work experience I wasn't allowed to be completely unsupervised when looking after the children and there always had to be a member of staff in the room with me. This didn't bother me though because sometimes they were busy filling out paperwork, and I had the chance to be in charge and keep things under control. As time went on I felt my confidence grew and by the end of the week I was singing along to nursery rhymes I hadn't sung since I was a toddler!.
Although I don't intend to work as a nursery nurse for a career, I am seriously considering it as a job for when I graduate from high school. Throughout the week I became more involved in the work I was doing and I think that I coped quite well under what some might call "pressure".