 Hi, my name is Sharon Nelson, HR manager responsible for talent acquisition for the City of Columbia. Talent in the City is our effort to highlight and showcase the departments with the City of Columbia, the department's impact players, as well as the talent who make the City run every single day. These impact players and departments oftentimes don't get the spotlight that they deserve, but without them, the City of Columbia would not run as a beautifully owned machine that it is. Well, with Parks and Recreation, we touch pretty much everything that's going on in the City. You know, if you see the mayor doing a press conference, that's us. We do all the behind the scenes on that as far as the setup is concerned. So we also have park rangers, because we do have regional parks, Riverfront Park, Saludo Riverwalk, and then we also have the programming aspect like I talked about. So we have the Art Center. We also provide the after school and summer camp, like I said before. In 2009, that's when I started in Parks and Recreation. I was actually with the county, but I transitioned to the City of Columbia back in 2017. So I've been here about six years or so, almost seven years actually. I started off as an administrative coordinator, and then I was promoted to being in a position I am now with the deputy director for operations. So if you want to apply with Parks and Recreation, it's a great, great opportunity because every day you come to work, you know that what you do matters. What you do matters. It impacts someone every single day. And what I love about Parks and Recreation is that you actually can touch someone's life from when they're three years old all the way up to late into their nineties. We also deal with young adults, parents with their kids, and then we have great programs for active seniors. Our seniors take trips, they socialize and everything else, so as an employee of Parks and Recreation, you get to be involved in so many different things that you would never think that you would be involved in, because all you think is just parks. But it's not. It's more than just sports. You know, it's about social well-being, it's about being healthy, it's about your mental well-being too. So you get to touch a lot of aspects of people's lives when you come to work with Parks and Recreation. So Parks and Recreation is made up of four divisions, Administration Division, which is our hub here at Earlwood Park, Recreation Division, Parks Division, and our Wellness Division. This is our Athletics Office. We have four athletic staff. Another office here is our Reservation Office. This part of the hallway oversees many of our programs that we oversee in our parks and special events city-wide. Kim Glasgow oversees many of our senior programs that takes place in our parks. These are additional offices that make up the operation of Parks and Recreation. Jacqueline oversees our community gardens and our parks and our educational gardens in our parks as well. We have a leasing program where there's a nominal fee for community gardens that can be leased. My name is Angela Boyd. I am the Recreation Coordinator at Laurel Park. My role as a Recreation Coordinator. I help my staff with programming events as far as like back-to-school bashes, Halloween events. We also do an after-school program, and we just try to cater to the community and their needs. Well, growing up in a neighborhood similar to Lateran Manor, I was able to enjoy a Recreation Center in my neighborhood. So growing up, I also did like junior counseling work at the parks. So once I got of age, I applied, and I started out as a part-time park center aide. And over the years, I was able to work my way up to now running my own facility. How easy would you say it was to elevate in your position? It was pretty easy because I'm a people person. You know, I can engage with everyone. And I also have a story just like them, so just connecting with people. I feel like recreation is important because it's somewhere for a safe haven for the kids. You know, trying to keep them positive, keep them off the streets, keep them engaged, as well as having a place for the adults to come and fellowship and, you know, enjoy each other's time. Well, my mom, she's been with the recreation, with the City of Columbia for over 40 years. She retired and came back. So I guess my 17 years working, we've worked together. When we came up, me and my brother, we participated in the recreation league and doing stuff in the parks. So it just came natural. I just had a baby over a year ago, so she's like almost like 18 months. But when I left, I was out for eight weeks. And when I came back, I had all type of like, we miss you cars and congratulations. And that was very special that the kids did for me. My supervisor, he shows me great support. He always helps me. He also brings in community outreach and other organizations to help me facilitate and host events. And whenever I need anything, the City, they're pretty good with getting everything I need as far as supplies or food for the community, anything we need. The most rewarding aspect of my job, like I said, is that I know every day I come to work, it matters. Because we are impacting people in some shape or form, whether it's through their health, whether it's through being social, whether it's through their mental because just taking a walk helps people. And so the fact that we have that, during the pandemic, we were still open. We were still open because people needed the parks at that time. They needed it for their mental health. And so people love to come and take walks and do all the outdoor activities that we offered. And we actually offered virtual programming during that time. So if you wanted to learn how to play basketball and learn how to dribble a basketball, we offered that at that time. So every day I come to work, I know that I'm making an impact in some shape or form. For more information about this position and its department, please visit www.columbiasc.gov.