Before I started working at Pacific Institute for Sport Excellence, I was a twenty year old guy. Fresh out of high-school, I was eager to get into the working world. One problem, I had never worked a day in my life, apart from volunteering. Then I met Tara, who coordinates the Supported Employment Project at CanAssist. She was committed to supporting me in finding a job. She was committed to finding me work. At this time, I was up for anything.
About a week later, I had an appointment with Tara at my house; she told me she had an interview setup for me. Throughout the next few weeks, leading up to my PISE debut; I was nervous but excited. I couldn’t believe this girl got me this job; all I had to do was go to meet with Andrea, the boss at PISE.
About a week later, I had an appointment with Tara at my house; she told me she had an interview setup for me. Throughout the next few weeks, leading up to my PISE debut; I was nervous but excited. I couldn’t believe this girl got me this job; all I had to do was go to meet with Andrea, the boss at PISE.
The day had finally arrived; I was officially going to get a job. The next step was getting out there to the Camosun College Inter-urban campus. That’s when Tara suggested we take the bus. This was all new to me, but Tara pushed me to do it. I was hesitant at first, but after a few weeks into it; my confidence was back on track. It wasn’t long after that, that I started going everywhere on the bus. I always get the best feeling of acceptance every time I go into work at PISE; sometimes I can’t believe it’s my first job.
There’s no doubt everyone at PISE is really cool, I think I’ve made some genuine friends there. There’s always someone there to help me, if I need any. The storage rooms are always a mess, so there’s always a lot for me to do. In the beginning of the summer they had wheelchair basketball in the gym; so there was Sean, Jimmy, and I getting the marks from the wheelchairs off the gym floor. Since I’ve been an employee at PISE, I’ve gained a lot of independence. I get a feeling of great satisfaction every week after my shift is up.
Every Thursday morning I wake up anticipating my shift at PISE. Because I know I’ll be working that day. I regularly work in the storage rooms, because, no matter how much I clean it the week before, it seem to always find a way to get messy again. I’ve made a lot of great friends at PISE, there’s this one in particular guy, Sean, and he was one of the guys who helped me clean the gym floor.
Tara is a great asset to have as a job coach, and on a more personal level; a friend. I’m very thankful to CanAssist for giving me this opportunity. I know it doesn’t sound cool, but if you keep a positive attitude, good things will happen.
