Dear Future Pali Instructor,

 

Thank you for deciding to join our outdoor education program at Pali Institute. We are very proud of the reputation we have developed over the last decade as having one of the best outdoor education programs available in Southern California.

 

Being a member of the Pali Institute team will provide you with the unique opportunity to play an important role in the lives of many children during your employment. Working as an instructor in OE is a selfless decision. Instead, the decision is to put the needs and wants of the campers ahead of your own.

 

You are about to embark on a journey to one of the hardest, challenging, time consuming yet most rewarding jobs that you may have. Physically and mentally draining from the get-go, it is important that you take a pro-active role in caring for yourself and your peers. Please remember a few things along the way:

 

• There will be days/weeks where you feel like you never have enough time to get prepared.

• There will be challenging students that force you to learn more about yourself.

• There will be days when neither students nor yourself will want to go outside in the rain, sleet, wind or heavy snow.

• There will be times when you feel like nothing is going right and you want it all to be over.

 

However, when these things start to get you down remember all the wonderful things that you are doing for students:

 

• You are giving them a positive role model in life.

• You are giving them an opportunity to be seen in a different light.

• You have a thousand moments in a day to share with others and teach subjects you are truly passionate about.

• You have an amazing support system all around you, from your peers to the administrative team.

 

Also, remember that we are one team that must work together to make our program successful. If you observe one of your peers having a difficult time, help them!

 

We have asked you to be an outdoor educator because we feel that you have the qualities to move past the things that are challenging and focus on the positive aspects of students. We realize that our expectations of you as an educator and interactions with students are extremely high. If you strive for quality programming, it is easier to achieve an incredible experience. We thank you for your willingness to take on all these responsibilities.

 

Sincerely,

Emily Bauder Balcome