Labor Day is a time to recognize the people whose work keeps our communities moving. It is also a good opportunity to think about where people get their start in the workforce.

For me, that start came through parks and recreation.

Early in my career, I worked as a lifeguard for the City of Chico. At the time, it was simply a job and a way to earn a paycheck. Looking back, it was also one of my first experiences with responsibility, teamwork, and public service.

Being a lifeguard meant showing up prepared, working with others, communicating clearly, enforcing rules, and understanding that people were depending on you to do your job well.

Those lessons stayed with me.

I later worked with the Chico Area Recreation and Park District as a soccer coach. That experience gave me a different view of recreation. Coaching was not only about teaching the game. It was about helping young people learn teamwork, confidence, discipline, and how to be part of a group.

That is one of the things I have always valued about parks and recreation. The activity itself is important, but so are the lessons that come with it.

A soccer field can be where a child learns teamwork.

A swimming pool can be where a teenager earns a first paycheck.

A recreation program can be where a young employee learns how to communicate with the public, take direction, solve problems, and become accountable for their work.

Later, at PRPD, I continued working in aquatics as a lifeguard, pool manager, and lifeguard training instructor.

Those positions gave me the opportunity to take on more responsibility and begin leading others.

As a pool manager, I learned that leadership means being accountable, communicating expectations, supporting employees, and making decisions when problems arise.

As a lifeguard training instructor, I had the chance to prepare new lifeguards for many of the same responsibilities that had once been taught to me.

That cycle is an important part of recreation and park agencies.

Someone gives you your first opportunity. Someone trains you. Someone helps you learn from mistakes and expects you to improve. Eventually, you may have the chance to provide that same opportunity to someone else.

Every year, recreation and park agencies employ young people as lifeguards, recreation leaders, coaches, camp counselors, swim instructors, sports officials, maintenance aides, and front-desk staff.

For many, it is their first job.

These positions are often described as summer jobs or part-time work, but they can have a much bigger impact.

A first job is where many young people learn how to show up on time, communicate with a supervisor, work with others, accept feedback, provide customer service, and take responsibility.

Those skills matter no matter what career they choose later.

Most young people who work in parks and recreation will eventually move into other professions, and that is a good thing. The goal is not necessarily to create the next generation of park professionals. The goal is to give young people a strong start.

For some of us, though, those early jobs do lead to a career.

My own experiences at swimming pools, soccer fields, and recreation programs eventually grew into a career in parks, recreation, and public service.

There was not one single moment when I decided this was the path I would take. One opportunity simply led to another, with more responsibility, new mentors, and new challenges along the way.

That experience still shapes how I look at young employees today.

The teenager working their first shift at a pool may someday supervise a department. The young employee preparing a sports field may eventually manage an entire park system. We often do not know where a first job will lead.

That is why the way we train, support, and hold young employees accountable matters.

When a public agency hires a young person, it is doing more than filling a shift. It may be giving someone their first real opportunity to learn what it means to be part of the workforce.

This Labor Day, I am grateful for the people who gave me those opportunities early in my career and for the lessons I learned along the way.

Parks and recreation helped give me my start.

For many young people in our communities, it continues to do the same.