Emler Swim School of Portland – Beaverton Washington Square

The best part about working for Emler everyday is interacting with kiddos and seeing their progression on a daily basis, seeing their smiles and excitement when they’ve reached a milestone and witnessing parents (at times with tears in their eyes) as they see their little ones reach those milestones.

What makes me a great manager is my ability to build relationships by connecting on a personal level and having interactions with our families to celebrate their milestone moments with them on an individual basis. I firmly believe that creating solid relationships is one of the most important parts of our role in this world.

During my time in rec swim lessons when I grew up in California, children were given the opportunity to jump off of the diving board as a reward for passing the program. I remember my parents telling me about how “graceful” my jump was because at the time I was a competitive gymnast. I didn’t realize that a jump could be considered “graceful!”

My favorite memory so far is with a child that started in our Waterbabies program last session and had a really hard time not crying, even with mom, which kept him from progressing. He turned 3 at the start of the spring session and went into Aquatots, but his anxiety increased exponentially as mom was no longer in the water with him. Each week we tried a new tactic to get him comfortable and week by week, he would allow teachers small moments of cooperation, but even then, mom and dad had to be out of the sight of the child and couldn’t enjoy those small achievements. Last week was a breakthrough moment – he not only allowed mom and dad to be on deck watching him but he had his first official submersion, did not cry when he came out of the water and was excited to stay in his class! Mom was in tears. After months of struggle, this child had what we at Emler call “when magic happens.” Those moments are what make my part in these family’s lives essential, taking part of watching a life-saving skill begin to take shape is truly the most rewarding part of my job.

I grew up living on a sailboat in the most northern coastal town in California (Crescent City). During a heavy gale, the spreader on the top of our mast broke and my dad told me I was the only one small enough to be hoisted up to be able to fix it. I naturally have a fear of heights and so just the mere thought of being pulled up the mast, which is 28 feet up into the air hovering above the ocean gave me a major tummy ache. I hesitantly sat down on the small wooden seat, held onto the the ropes, and my dad pulled me up, checking in with me every few minutes. I distinctly remember praying the entire way up for protection. Once I got to the top, I couldn’t believe my eyes. I had been so scared of the height and potential of falling that I wasn’t paying attention to what was around me. I could see a panoramic view of the lighthouse, castle rock (a large rock island near our favorite surf spot), the mountainous redwood forest and the city. Although it was incredibly scary, it ended up being one of my greatest memories of not only facing something extremely frightening and overcoming fear, but witnessing one of the most beautiful sights of my gorgeous childhood town.