I have never actually had a conventional job; however, I have spent time as a counselor-in-training at diabetes camp (camp name would be good). I was not paid for my time at camp, but I did gain things from the time that I spent there.  Although this “job” is not usually thought of as educational, I learned about responsibility, how to focus my attention to achieve my goals, and how to inherit more responibilities in order to become more efficient.
	Responsibility is important in jobs where children are concerned. Youngsters are likely to run everywhere they can and often mess with everything, even things that they should avoid.  Bein in a position like counselor-in-training (CIT), I sometimes felt as if I was only around to watch the campers as their counselor took a nap. However, part of the training was to test my ability of handling the pressure of keeping track of ten or fifteen hyper campers. Last year at diabetes camp, I nearly lost a camper because his counselor was riding horses with half the group (more detail, explain how you handled it) This situation came up only ten minutes after I was first made responsible for a dozen campers. Although these little campers are not quite like my classroom assignments, I have learned that I need to be responsible for them and make sure I have them all under control from the second I get them, lest one gets away from me when I am not looking. 
	Focusing was another skill that I learned to use as a CIT. Usually focusing is thought of as something one does to study for a test or to draw a straight line (sarcasm?). However, sometimes I ended up focusing on things that I did not expect to devote much attention to. During break times in the cabin, it was easy to get into a conversation with the counselor, only to forget that I was responsible for a group of mischievous campers, always getting into trouble. The trick I learned was to remember that I was the one who was responsible for the situation and to imagine the consequences. It is often easy to procrastinate doing homework, or to simply become distracted with something else. If I think about my grades, I find that I can bring myself to focus on the work I need to do.
	As a CIT I often found myself taking care of tasks that weren’t mine. Most cabins have one diabetic and one non-diabetic counselor in them, with the diabetic counselor responsible for checking blood sugars and getting insulin doses. The diabetic counselor in my cabin was injured and stayed in his room most of the time. This left me to take care of any problems the campers might have had, because the non-diabetic counselor had very little knowledge of the situation. I found myself having to deal with things I myself had no knowledge of. Having been diabetic for less time than several of these campers, I had only common sense and decent judgment at my disposal to solve problems. During labs, I often have to do the same thing. Other members of my group will slack off on the tasks we agreed to split up, and I end up doing them in order to get things done.
	Being a CIT afforded me many chances to learn skills that are both useful and not normally taught in a classroom setting. I am able to apply these skills in every day situations, such as school, to make my life more pleasant. Responsibility, focus, and being able to branch out are just some of these skills that I picked up from a job that is hardly thought of as educational.