A Trip Down Memory Lane

from March 2023 Newsletter

want extra hours?

Written by Tiffany Lam

Every day, I check my emails to stay updated on any information about upcoming deadlines, the status of my grades, and scholarship information. It’s a mundane, routine task that almost any other high schooler also participates in. Usually, nothing is out of the ordinary. However, one Wednesday morning, I saw an email from my middle school Calculator Applications UIL coach. She requested that two of my teammates, both individuals being my friend and fellow officers, and I come and volunteer at the upcoming Middle School UIL Academics meet. That Friday, Key Club vice president, Bryant Le, drove himself and me to Legacy High School at what can you expect at LEDCON?

5:00 p.m. where the meet was being hosted. That evening, the writing events and speaking preliminaries were occurring; all other events were on Saturday. Bryant and I met Lindsey in the cafeteria, and once we were all gathered, a volunteer briefed us on our duties. As students were arriving, we were to check them in, guide them to their locations, and answer any questions they had about their events.

The only issue? None of us had ever stepped foot in Legacy before!

The first event was at 6:00 p.m., but the students were instructed to arrive 30 minutes before. After our instructions were given, we had 10 minutes until the first group of students arrived. We volunteers set out to explore the three-story goliath so we could be useful tour guides.

Once we got acquainted with the mansion, we returned and started greeting the first arrivals. We answered various questions from the nervous bundle and reassured them they’d do fantastic. As the clock ticked closer to their call time, we navigated to the proper room, gave them their necessary materials, and wished them good luck. By the end of the night, we were out of breath trying to pinpoint late and lost students, but it was rewarding in the end. Many of our students had advanced!

The following Saturday, we had to do it all over again—this time, with thrice the events.

Ultimately, we got to reminisce with these middle school students and reconnect with our old teacher. Even though Lindsey and I had been mistaken for middle schoolers many, many, many times, it was worthwhile. I’d love to volunteer again next year.