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Love at First Sight

Walking into school as a freshman, I didn’t expect to see myself waking up at 3 in the morning for volunteering events. When I first heard about marathons, the thought of having to be at the train station before the sun even rose was scary, but after attending several, they became my favorite type of event. I’m able to connect with more people and create fond memories during these eight hours-long events, and my favorite marathon was the Skyline Marathon back in April. When I was heading to the Dart that early morning, I honestly didn’t expect this marathon to be much fun as very few of my friends were going. However, it was my first event as an officer, and I wanted to make the best of it. Fortunately, I was put in a water station with my friends, and it was located next to a lake and hill where we could see a stunning view of the city skyline. The first hour there was a little unpleasant due to the cold wind from the lake while setting up cardboard trash cans and empty paper cups that would fly away.

WRITTEN BY YEN DO

Despite the chilly weather, our chests bubbled with warm laughter from how silly we looked chasing after paper and cardboard.

As hours passed, we finished setting up our station and had water cups ready to give the runners. A wave of tired runners quickly approached us when the marathon started, and we were busily passing out water to exhausted runners for the next hour and a half. My friends and I also cheered on the runners as they passed, so they were motivated to keep going. This is one of my favorite parts of marathons because passed our water station, we took a break and ran up the hill to explore the skyline view. Eventually, we were back to passing out water to runners circling back to the finish line. My group had to stay until the last runner passed before we could head back to the main area, so my friends and

I get to see the gratifying looks on people’s faces when they receive muchneeded water and words of encouragement. After all the starting runners my friends while genuinely helping people is truly the fun part of volunteering.

I used this time to tell each other stories and made light conversations to fill the silence. When we finally got back, everyone else had already packed up, and we were ready to go home.

I came into the Skyline Marathon with low expectations, but it ended up being my favorite event.

UNICEF works to protect children and their rights, ensuring protection for children suffering from war, poverty, disabilities, exploitation, and violence. UNICEF also advocates for the equal rights of women and girls and are working to accomplish the Sustainable Development Goals, which are set to attain a sustainable future and leave no one behind.

March of Dimes strives to prevent birth defects and infant deaths by conducting research on infant health. They are committed to preventing premature births and have launched campaigns to promote the importance of prenatal care.

Children's Miracle Network raises funds for children’s hospitals, medical research and awareness for children’s health issues. They have raised funds for 170 children’s hospitals across North America.