Here I am (second from left) with my bosses at my Summer camp job Galileo Learning.
For the last three Summers, I have taken my life on the road and moved up to the Chicago area to enjoy the best job ever. Galileo Learning hired me to be a Lead Art Instructor in 2016 and I have thoroughly enjoyed getting to teach and learn during this adventure of a role.
I cannot even begin to say how much this experience has meant to me. During our six weeks of camp every Summer, I get to deliver awesome curriculum and my job is to develop innovators who envision and create a better world. I have gotten to inspire 4th and 5th grade campers, along with Pre-K and Kindergarten campers, I have found my home working with the latter.
Galileo is so unique because the leaders want to develop innovators out of their staff as much as their campers. We encourage our campers and our teammates to be visionary, courageous, collaborative, determined and reflective. I have developed all of these mindsets and they have really helped me in my life outside of camp. Since becoming a Galilean three Summers ago, I continually push myself to try new things and go beyond what I think is possible.
I discovered the job posting that led me to be hired on with Galileo while I was abroad finishing a teaching certificate in Barcelona. I was deciding whether or not I was going to stay past my visa. I was nervous to be an illegal alien somewhere and ultimately decided that my best option was to find the best job I possibly could back in the States. I decided that since I wanted to continue to travel, the job could be anywhere in the US. Well, I don't know where I'd be had I not answered that job ad, but where I found myself a few months later was nothing short of transformative.
I arrived in Evanston, Illinois with pretty much everything I owned stuffed into my VW Jetta. I am a minimalist, but that's a story for another post. I moved into a small room in a giant house with four other roommates. I wondered what my new job would be like and to be honest I was pretty nervous.
After my first day of training and setup, early on a Saturday morning though, I knew I had made the right choice. I would go on to develop not only my teaching skills, but my communication skills and a truly bad-ass wardrobe of ridiculous and over-the-top camp attire along with many other things. Each Summer would prove to be even better than the last. Teaching is one of my favorite roles, out of the many I have played as a traveling artist. It allows me to feel as though I am making a difference and this is SO IMPORTANT to me. When I graduated from college (after seven years and three degrees), I was determined to add value to this world. I wanted to know that what I was doing everyday mattered. I knew I needed to work and I was determined to find a job that I loved. When I began teaching I found a way to add value to my students, be myself and enjoy working more than I ever thought possible.
So you want to know more about Galileo? Visit their website by clicking the button below and learn more about how you can become a Galilean next Summer at one of more than 80 locations. If you apply feel free to list me: Brennah D. St.Ores as referring you. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions or comments and thanks for reading!
