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Life is about
Continual Challenges
I’m a
small town girl growing up in the metropolis of Middleton just down
the road from the base all my life. I left home for the big city of
Halifax (Ha Ha) to attend Dalhousie University to complete a
Bachelor of Science in Psychology with electives in Anatomy,
Physiology and Bio Mechanics for interest. At the time my friends
thought I was crazy with the additional lab time and less downtown
time but it certainly paid off in the end. With my fair share of
downtown time and university complete I headed for home to be close
to my mom, dad, brother and husband (boyfriend at the time).
Essentially they are the ones that had taught me all about team work
and an excellent support system. Back to college for a counselling
diploma to add some hands on applicability to my Psychology degree.
Fresh out of college I headed off to work for Corrections Services
Canada as a Federal Parole Officer. Lots of challenge, learning the
perfect art of the sandwich technique (good, bad , good) when
attempting to promote behavioural changes.
After
my term with the Parole Office, I went to work at the Nova Scotia
Youth Centre as a Youth Worker. The boys ranged in age from 14 – 19
serving a variety of minor and major offences. Sports, fitness and a
direct positive approach were my tactics to teaching positive
lifestyle choices. After 3 years of my husband and I doing opposite
shift work I was ready for a new challenge and some regular sleep. I
moved to something totally different, Employment Counselling. It was
from here I gathered the majority of my management experience. I had
a caseload of 265 people all either looking for work, doing career
exploration or on a variety of government funded skills development
programs. An ex Wing Admin O, Bill Travis gave a wonderful
introduction to team building when he arrived as the Executive
Director for that society. I was sad to go but needed to move
forward.
Once
again I had the 3 year itch and it was time for a new challenge, I
applied to PSP to become a Military Fitness Instructor having taken
my personal trainer certificate and spent several years training
with my husband, Jamie Peppard, at our gym, Fitness Experience in
Middleton. Jamie is an elite athlete with talents ranging from
football to being the All Strength Canadian Champion in 2003. He has
taught me a great deal about training, the importance of working
hard and that results will follow.
Moving into the PSP world was wonderful. At the time I was working
with my best friend Tracey Elmore. There was a lot less looking over
your shoulder so you don’t get a chair in the head and a great deal
of camaraderie and fun. We were left in the hands of Eric Plante to
guide us a long the way. Upon my return from Borden, Eric gently
lead me into a gym of 100 men and told me to get to work. OH boy,
but I loved it. Where else do you get paid to work out and make
everyone else workout as hard as you are. After a year and a half,
the Aquatic Programmer retired and Frank Brake at that time asked me
to move to the pool office to try my hand at Aquatics. What?
Other then the National Lifeguard course I was mandated to have as a
Fitness Instructor, swimming was not really part of my vocabulary.
However with every new challenge is an opportunity to work hard and
have some personal growth. I certainly had to work hard as in the
three years I was down there I went through sucking every piece of
information I could from lifeguards/instructors Mitchell Crossman,
Yvonne Clarke and especially Lou MacTavish. Thank you. With my new
pool responsibilities came a new supervisor, the wise ole’ man down
the hall. I certainly want to thank Dwight Richardson for all the
grooming and mentoring he has done for me throughout my years in the
pool. I think without him I certainly would not have survived the
hole (they nicknamed my office) as well as the arrival of my
energetic daughter, who apparently looks like me and acts like her
father. All Guts & No Fear!
Now
that Dwight has moved on to greener more frustrating pastures, some
call it the golf course, I have been very lucky to continue on in my
three year itch journey to the Facilities Coordinator position. The
new challenge as the Facilities Coordinator has been quite a busy
ride. The learning curve is certainly up there and I have been being
very nice to many people so they will be patient with my acquisition
of knowledge. Thank you to everybody, especially Fred Williams for
their patience and guidance.
Luckily I have been very fortunate to have some extraordinary people
in my section. Dean Peach in Sports Stores displays his remarkable
knowledge of the supply system as well as mechanical capabilities.
He keeps our equipment new and innovative as well as running without
the down time most gyms have for repair. Jenna MacLeod is a new
acquisition to the team. She has replaced me in the pool and is
going through the same learning curve. She has moved from the rink
teaching PT on ice (Tuesday 0730)/gym to the pool learning to become
the POOL GURU. Bill Cox, our Arena, Curling Club, Outdoor Facilities
Manager, has over 14 years experience and is getting the rink back
to being all shiny and new with the help of our CE counterparts.
Paint, new ice decals and a new plant are all great additions to the
rink this year. We encourage everyone to come out as we continue to
dress up our old hangar until the new arena arrives (just a little
encouragement for our new PSP manager). Lastly, I would like to
express my extreme gratitude to the front desk duty attendants, the
NPF cleaners, and Judy, our public cleaner for all the hard work and
issues they deal with each and everyday.
Some
new things happening here are: our new ‘interac’ machine, stability
balls have now been approved for the weight room, the outdoor
equipment for functional training is now being set in place beside
the Apple Bowl for military PT classes (HELLO chin ups & dips). Also
there will be a change in cleaning with our night cleaners switching
to morning cleaners in order to better meet our military needs.
Keep
watch (maybe a reason to maintain that fitness program and keep
coming to the gym), we have a few things in the works now for new
equipment for the building, comfort for the outdoor pools and a
improved F&S Centre web site. I invite any comments and suggestions
people have about the building, equipment and services, comment
cards are available at the front desk.
I
read a quote once somewhere by someone that I like to reflect back
on once in awhile, “Think of managing change as an adventure.”
I feel life should be full of adventure to promote learning, growth
and happiness.
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