Lauren from Scotland took the plunge on our Work America Ultimate programme and landed a job as a lifeguard at an amusement park in Ocean City. She spent 4 months in the summer working hard and making life-long friends. Read her blog to find out more...

Where do I start? I have always had a love of America since visiting Orlando, Miami and New York on holidays with both family and friends and I aimed to spend a whole summer in the USA whilst I was at university. I was so eager to get out there that I applied for Work America through BUNAC the day the applications opened for 2014 and i spent the remaining months counting down. I applied for quite a few jobs as its best to have options and got accepted by quite a few, but after research and a Skype interview with the managers i knew i wanted to work as a lifeguard at an amusement park, especially as I had wanted to work in Ocean City and the park was just 5 miles away on a free bus. My friend had also applied for the same amusement park and when we both got offered the job we were so excited, a Facebook group was then made for other people who had accepted jobs at the park and we spent the next few months getting to know each other before we flew out there.

 

May 28th was the day I flew out and I had arranged to get the same flight as two other Work America participants who would be working at the amusement park, spending the time getting to know each other and talking about what we wanted to do with our summer made the flight go extremely fast and in no time we were in New York! We then got a bus down to Ocean City and were met by our employer who showed us where we would be living.

We lived on the camp ground, a small fee was taken out of our pay checks each week for rent but if there was no damage you got it all back at the end of summer which was a great incentive. I shared with 3 other people, 2 from England and one from Scotland who were all lovely. There were 13 of us living on camp and we all got on amazingly well! I have definitely made friends for life.

 

Work as a lifeguard was so much fun, of course we took our job seriously as it meant caring for the safety of our customers but the fact I was in America, spending my days out in the sun and surrounded by amazing fellow lifeguards, work didn’t feel like work at all. I would honestly recommend the amusement park in Ocean City to anyone thinking about participating in the Work America programme, the memories I have from this place are irreplaceable. I have honestly had the time of my life and I seriously don’t think anything can top this summer! Who doesn’t want to get paid whilst sitting in the sun and spend their days off at the beach?!

From working and earning a bonus at the end of summer I had earned enough money to travel for 3 weeks after I had left work. I can only describe this time as the most incredible thing i have ever experienced. From Washington DC to Seattle, Vancouver to San Francisco, LA to San Diego and New York i have seen some incredible sights and this only inspired me to want to visit as many states as possible in the years to come!

 

I am so thankful to BUNAC for giving me this opportunity and allowing me to meet new people who I know for sure will be life-long friends. This summer was a dream and I already know I will be back next summer!

Ready to start creating your memories in the USA next summer? Sign up to our Work America programme and you could have a guaranteed job sorted before you leave the UK! Give us a call on 033 3999 7516 to start your American adventure.