A sad goodbye!
Hi everyone! For those who don’t know me, my name is Chris and I am the Recreation and Community Engagement Officer at Langports Sydney.
This is my second blog for Langports and also my last, as after almost 3 years working for this amazing organisation, I will say goodbye to the Langports Family.
Since October 24. 2016 I have been in charge of organising events and activities for students at Langports Sydney.
It has been my job to enhance the student experience for everyone that walks through our front door everyday.
Whether it be organising an awesome weekend surf camp, getting a student to skydive over the beach, taking students on a tour of this beautiful city that is Sydney, organising light hearted activities such as soccer or ping pong tournaments, or even just being a friendly face that a student can approach at anytime.
I love being involved in a student engagement role as you get to meet so many people from around the world and make an impact on their life.
But how did I end up working here?
After I graduated from university with a Degree in Sports Management, I found myself stuck as to what to do in the next chapter of my life.
Do I go back to Uni? Should I go look for a job in the sports world? Or do I drop everything and go travel the globe?
For about 4 months I was wondering where my life would take me when I came across a job to work as Recreation and Community Engagement Officer at a English Language School in Sydney.
After living overseas as a child and embracing different cultures and backgrounds, the chance to experience this again at Langports was extremely attractive to me.
One thing that students always notice and comment on is whenever they walk into school each morning, they see me with a smile, a positive attitude or an upbeat spirit.
I don’t act this way because of the large amounts of coffee I drink before work, but because I like to make the students feel welcomed and happy when they arrive each day to school.
If I can make someone’s day better by simply smiling and saying “gooooood morningggggg”, then of course I’ll do it.
The power of a positive attitude
Throughout my years at Langports I’ve always reminded students that no matter what is going on in your life, whether it be your struggle with English studies or your troubles back home or with your job, having a positive attitude and sharing a laugh with someone can make a world of difference.
Every morning, every orientation, at every activity and every graduation, it’s my goal to make all students feel welcome, safe, happy, make them laugh, and leave with a smile on their face.
It’s hard to put into words just how much I’ve enjoyed my time at Langports.
At this moment I have mixed emotions.
Sadness that my journey here is coming to an end, but joy for all the incredible memories I’ve made and the amazing people that I’ve met along the way.
While I love getting to surf, skydive, play bowling or soccer (seriously how many people do you know that get to play Ping Pong as part of their job), the best part of my Langports experience has been the students.
They have been the highlight of my journey since my first day.
The people I’ve met for only 1 week to those I’ve known for more than a year, each has impacted my life and made me a wiser, happier, and better person.
I wouldn’t replace this experience with anything else.
In the end, I can’t thank the students and staff of Langports enough for taking me on this incredible journey. I wish you all the very best!
Thank you!
Related topics:
Read another blog post by Chris here!
Find out more about our Sydney school here!
See this month’s activities in Sydney here!
Watch our newest video of Sydney below!