2023 Starry Nights at Shelby Farms Park

I volunteered at Starry Nights at Shelby Farms here in Memphis, Tennessee. My service helped the workers at Shelby Farms because the volunteers’ job was to help direct traffic, so if they didn't have any volunteers things would have been more chaotic. I served the families coming into Shelby Farms by providing them with directions through the park. They were very thankful to have people directing them since Shelby Farms is a big park and it is very confusing, especially in the dark. I worked individually and as part of a team at this service. I mainly was with someone else, but at the end, I was by myself. Working with other people impacted my experience because it helped keep my energy up and distract me from the cold weather. I also enjoy the company of other people so that impacted my experience positively. When I was by myself, I started to get very tired and bored, so that made my experience negative. This service helped me improve my teamwork and problem-solving skills. I was able to improve my teamwork skills by working as a team with the other volunteers to get the job done. I was able to improve my problem-solving skills because a lot of people coming to the event got lost or had problems with their tickets, so I had to help them solve that problem by asking a worker or using my own knowledge. I would really like to continue volunteering with this event. It was a fun light-hearted event that anyone could do and I had a lot of fun doing it.

My direct service benefitted members of the broader community by helping to bring joy and Christmas cheer! Serving at Starry Nights was so much fun. Me and a friend went together and all we were doing was directing traffic, but it was still the best time. It felt like a split between people facing and environmental. We were serving for Shelby Farms, but got to see people in their cars. To make it more fun, we were dancing as we circled around our traffic directing wands. It was freezing cold, but we actually started to get hot from moving around so much. The people of Memphis are who came to the show, and their reactions to our dancing was the best parts. We got laughs, yells, claps, and thumbs up. I think this will encourage people to keep coming and come next year, which is great for Shelby Farms, because Starry Nights is their biggest fundraiser of the year. This aligned with my personal values, because as a Christian, the Bible says that whatever you do, do it wholeheartedly. Waving our wands around having fun as we directed traffic was exactly that. I also learned that Starry Nights cannot happen without volunteers, so I was so glad to help, because I myself go to Starry Nights every year. Since learning this, I have decided I definitely want to volunteer with this organization again. It is so rewarding to see the smiles on people's faces, and I hope to go again soon!