Working with the Grounds...

An integral part of my time on campus is my job. I work with the site development sprinkler crew which is a division of BYU grounds. Since I was little I have learned how to work hard. I remember working with my family at my home, going to my grandparents' house to work on their farm, helping with service projects, and since I was 14, working a summer job.

I am really glad to have my job for a number of reasons.

1. I work with great people.

I work with a crew of students. We are all directed by a foreman, who is a full-time employee and usually not a student. In my case, my foreman is finishing up a masters degree in construction management. My foreman is very knowledgeable and safety minded. He is a whiz with sprinklers and he knows all about construction techniques. This comes in handy because the majority of our time is spent on large-scale installation or repair in or around construction sites. We aren't your ordinary sprinkler crew; we only handle the heavy duty lifting. :)

My fellow students are fun to work with as well. We enjoy reading the newspaper on Tuesdays and making comments about it. We spend long hours laying out systems in the summer, and cold mornings shoveling snow in the winter. Sometimes we have a barbecue potluck lunch. Other times we will race to fix a broken pipe that is gushing water all over a construction site.

2. I like the opportunity to learn.

I told you about my foreman, right? Well his name is Jared. He is a track hoe operator extraordinaire. I am not even joking in the slightest. Once he wrote his name in cursive with the tip of the track hoe bucket. He is an expert. So what do you do with an expert? That's easy, you learn from him. I like learning how to do things that I have never done before or on a bigger scale than to what I am accustomed. Here are some examples of our work.

Here is a plan for one of the systems we repaired.

Here is a system we put in after the construction crews came through. It is sometimes a brain teaser trying to fit everything in one space.

We also run wires to each sprinkler box, so that each system can be run automatically. It isn't nice to mix up the wires. That can provide several hours of fun trying to figure out where in the dozens of yards of underground conduit you might have messed up. 

3. I appreciate the flexible hours.

Since we work all the time (winter is slower usually, but this winter has been pretty good), our foreman lets us set our own schedule according to our classes and time. Super nice!! I don't think every part-time job will be so easy to work with.

4. I love the time to relax.

I find that physical work helps me take a break from my school and sometimes-stressful life. I enjoy working with straightforward tasks that come to fruition relatively quickly. 

5. I am grateful for the income.

As a college student money can be tight. How hard I work is directly correlated to the resources I obtain, just as much in work as through my scholarship.