So.... Now I'm a Rock Wall Instructor!?!

Today was my first, "full", official, day as a "Rock Wall Instructor" at Drexel University's Recreation Center. Was I nervous? Yes. Was I totally stoaked? Also yes. I was very freaked out at first; that somehow I had not deserved to be hired, that I wouldn't fit in, or some other variation of nonsense. This was not the case. My boss seems to be surprised by how quickly I am learning and adapting, and he also seemed pleased by my overall demeanor and interaction with customers. Too bad my #1 fan leaves for the summer starting tomorrow. Now I have to fend for myself.

My previous rock climbing, ski instructing, tour guiding, and overall awesome people and adventure skills were starting to kick in and I felt like I was doing decently. I belayed these 3 small kids a dozen times, and was overall doing everything decently. Then Drew (my supervisor) started giving me random quiz questions: put on the spot. I got most of them, but made some silly errors from being put in the hot seat. Flustered and embarrassed, the shift changed and some smug ass named Ian came in and made his superiority known (not directly, he is just that kind of "guy" you know he feels better than you). I tried to get along with him and play it cool, and I thought things had gotten a little better. Then, half an hour before my shift ends... "you're obviously not doing anything, can you strip this for me?". His shift ends the same time as mine. I don't know why he made me do it, I think he just wanted to watch me struggle.

Stripping, as it turns out, is not as fun as it sounds... This is not the happy take-your-clothes-off-dance that I thought it was. This is more like a strap-on-a-punch-of-equipment-and-tools-and-hoist-yourself-up-the-wall-and-take-off-old-hand-holds. This seemed easy, but it was a bit harder than I had hoped. The gear was heavy (or at least heavier, than I am used to), and holding yourself to the wall is difficult, especially since this wall portion was inverted. I managed, but the levels of sweat, arm cramps, and shear nervousness were high. Some of the holds were large and I was afraid I was going to drop them on the bolderers below. It also got harder to pull myself up the wall as my gear bag filled with holds.

I left work late and bolted on my bike home (with a very sore butt from yesterdays bike adventure). So fast that I somehow lost a can of pears out of my overstuffed bag (don't ask why I had a can of pears?) into the middle of the road. Some random guy picked it up, looked at me and gave me the "wtf face", embarrassed, and confused, I just waved him off saying "just chuck it or something" to which I think he responded "thanks?". Who knows. Day one. Done. AND I didn't kill anyone (bonus!). Let's hope they start getting better/easier.