Service: 6 hours
Over Christmas Break, I had the unique opportunity to help decorate floats for Pasadena's annual Rose Parade. I have been to the Rose Parade at least five times, but I never realized how much work is put into each and every float. When I signed up to volunteer at this event, I thought the work would be easy and that we would simply be placing flowers on floats. One can imagine my surprise when I was given my task: help cover the float with seeds smaller than rice while balancing on a board fifteen feet above the ground. Additionally, the parts of the float we were supposed to cover in a very specific pattern were not flat and easy to cover, but large, diagonally-positioned, and football shaped. As someone who always avoided the arts and crafts table as a child and who was not given the creativity gene, I was somewhat horrified. The strict authorities who constantly reminded us of the importance of our work and who watched over us like eagles did not help the matter. However, as time passed, I began to get used to the work. Although after six long hours I had only helped cover a very small part of one float in the parade, I felt satisfaction, for I had survived a day of arts and crafts, and I had contributed to the Rose Parade which would be watched by over 7 million people on New Years Day. I'm grateful for this opportunity, and when I saw the floats on TV, I appreciated their beauty more than I ever had before.
Over Christmas Break, I had the unique opportunity to help decorate floats for Pasadena's annual Rose Parade. I have been to the Rose Parade at least five times, but I never realized how much work is put into each and every float. When I signed up to volunteer at this event, I thought the work would be easy and that we would simply be placing flowers on floats. One can imagine my surprise when I was given my task: help cover the float with seeds smaller than rice while balancing on a board fifteen feet above the ground. Additionally, the parts of the float we were supposed to cover in a very specific pattern were not flat and easy to cover, but large, diagonally-positioned, and football shaped. As someone who always avoided the arts and crafts table as a child and who was not given the creativity gene, I was somewhat horrified. The strict authorities who constantly reminded us of the importance of our work and who watched over us like eagles did not help the matter. However, as time passed, I began to get used to the work. Although after six long hours I had only helped cover a very small part of one float in the parade, I felt satisfaction, for I had survived a day of arts and crafts, and I had contributed to the Rose Parade which would be watched by over 7 million people on New Years Day. I'm grateful for this opportunity, and when I saw the floats on TV, I appreciated their beauty more than I ever had before.