St Ann Special Athletes Fun Day

This experience has really helped me to appreciate those around me more. I personally knew my athlete because he went to my middle school but I never realized what his daily life was like, and getting to see a portion of that daily life has opened my eyes to a new world i have completely overlooked.

During this experience I improved my communication and artistic skills. Working with face paint and kids who don’t really know what they want was a challenge. I learned to give clearer instructions and to be patient. I learned about how supportive this community is, everyone coming together to make sure that those who participated had a good time showed me how much spaces like this are valued. I worked as part of a team at the face painting station and it definitely was best that way. We were able to help each other when we needed and because none of us had face painted before we all just picked something we could do and went from there. My service contributed to the mission by helping create a fun and enjoyable day for everyone who came. People were able to express themselves with their face paint and it helped them feel celebrated which was the goal. One challenge was working with people who couldn’t find something that they liked but I was able to show them options of things on my phone eventually they found something they liked.

I volunteered at the St. Ann Special Athlete Fun Day. Through this experience I was able to improve my communication skills because I had to make sure I was giving clear directions to the athletes. I learned that everybody has strengths and weaknesses and in an event like this the strength of the athletes really shined in order to do each event. I worked as part of a team in this event, we were in charge of the soccer kick event. Working as a team really made it easier to handle because we all played different roles in the success of the event. The organization supported us during the service because they gave us everything we needed to be successful all we had to do was run the event. An unexpected challenge that we faced was the when we first began and we were trying to make sure it was orderly. At first it was hectic but we were able to get everyone in line and we were able to score everyone accurately.

I would say that a skill that I improved on would be teamwork. I worked the St. Ann Special Athletes field day, and my peers and I ran the soccer event. We had to work as a team to help ensure the athletes were registered for the soccer event and had their score sheet to see how they did out of the 4 shots they had on the net. So, this took a good amount of teamwork to say the least. I would say something that I learned about the community I served would be just how happy and grateful that something like a small field day meant and how happy it made all the athletes. Throughout the event we worked in teams, and it helped make my experience better to have other peers helping as it would’ve been a lot to manage if I had to run the whole game by myself. I plan to volunteer again with the organization as I’ve helped for several years (dating back to middle school) and my mom has helped put the event on for the past few years. An unexpected challenge we faced would be the number of athletes that wanted to do the soccer kick outside of their round. For reference there were 3 rounds and a lot of the athletes wanted to come outside of turn, so we came up with a compromise. The compromise was to have an ordered line and let the individuals who were supposed to be in the soccer kick during the round would go first then after the others could go and we would write down the athletes going that were out of turn on a different sheet and turn it in to the people with medals during that appropriate time to ensure the scoring was still fair.

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1) As one of the face painters for the Special Athletes, this experience challenged my problem-solving abilities on numerous occasions. From my memory, the first challenge I encountered was creating the perfect brush stroke that did not bleed too much and kept its shape when applied to the skin. After a few attempts, I realized I needed to use less water and let the brush mark dry before moving on to the next task. Another setback I faced was trying to transfer a design on paper to a tiny canvas: the face. Some of the athletes were kids, so the real estate was somewhat limited. Nevertheless, this reality pushed me to be very patient and precise in my movements to ensure the overall painting still translated well and met my clients' interests. Upon reflection, there were many moments when I felt myself saying "oh no" and then reframing my mindset to "oh, let me try this" to overcome specific obstacles that came my way.

2) Oftentimes, when it comes to volunteerism, it is easy to get into the mindset that your one deed of service will not make a difference. However, if I have learned anything over the years, it is that small acts of kindness go a long way toward making someone's day, whether intentional or not. Truthfully, we do not know the impact we have on others in the moment; therefore, we shake it off and continue moving through life. But it will warm your heart when those people come back to you and say two simple words, "thank you." It is this very realization that inspired me to pursue a career in nonprofits and to continue giving back through programs such as Emerging Leaders. There is so much we have to offer to make our communities better places for all. If we do our part, there is no telling the impact we can have together, which I believe St. Ann's embodies at its core.

3) During my service, I had the opportunity to create plenty of new connections with people not only from the University of Memphis, but also in the local Mid-South community. The first person who came to mind was the lovely lady who taught us the tips and tricks of face painting. I could tell she had a kind heart from the way she interacted with the other athletes and the trust she placed in us to step up and start painting people's faces. Nevertheless, I enjoyed sitting and chatting with her that morning before the rounds of play began. I also got the chance to work alongside some fellow Emerging Leaders and friends from the University of Memphis, which was comforting and reassuring to be surrounded by familiar faces. And finally, I also got to interact one-on-one with a few special athletes of all ages, which made the day so much more worthwhile when I met the people who make this event what it is every year. It put a smile on my face to see their gratitude and delight in the small pieces of art we attempted to create for them, making their experiences that much better.

4) After 2 years of attending the St. Ann Special Athletes Fun Day, it is safe to say I will continue volunteering with them for the foreseeable future. The staff and community that come together to create and put on this event every year are not only so welcoming and considerate but also committed to a mission greater than themselves. I appreciate their dedication to bringing these athletes everlasting joy and love out of small, thoughtful gestures that come together to make a difference. Not to mention, their overarching goal and purpose hit close to home. As a fellow advocate for equity and inclusion, I recognize how beautifully St. Ann illustrates and embodies these qualities through their work. It has been wonderful to create new relationships and to see familiar faces over the years, reminding me of the best of times and of my ultimate "why" for going out of my way to show this devotion. At the end of the day, that is what giving back is all about.

5) At this year's St. Ann's Special Athletes Day, I took on a new, exciting role: I was one of the face painters for the Special Athletes. When I first heard this was an option, I shot my hand up in the air because it was an activity I had never done, but I thought it would be a good way to push myself outside my comfort zone and lean into my creative side. However, to my surprise, face painting is much more complex and challenging than it appears. I truly commend those who do this for a living, as it requires a great deal of attention to detail and patience to create the perfect image. In this way, I initially struggled to execute flawless brush strokes that were neither too watery nor too dry, as well as to determine which designs I felt were within my wheelhouse. However, after practicing a few times on my own hand and ultimately believing in myself, I started to get the hang of it. So, there was undoubtedly some trial and error at the beginning, but I was pleased with the progress I made, given that I was an absolute novice at the start of the morning.