I woke up at 4 AM to be at the West Lounge by 5:15 AM with my make-up on and backpack ready. I felt so nervous and excited about this weekend that I couldn’t sleep too well at night. It’s all good though – I tell myself – It’s a great day to be!
When I walked in, almost everyone on the committee was there. So hyped, so chatty, and so full of energy. I always feel lucky because we have such a great group and their vibe this morning was simply unmatchable. If happiness goes top down, I can already imagine that this Fall Fest will be the best one yet!
The first task was putting up signage. JP, KVD, and I took quite a while to figure out different positions to place the signs around campus, because we didn’t have too many work with, but at the same time we wanted them to be in visible positions. By the time we finished, the sun was almost up. We then moved to the Villanova Room to prepare for the registration table. The athletes will arrive between 10 AM and 12 PM, so we were in no rush. However, we figured that life would be easier if we prepared everything beforehand; that way, we would be ready to rock and roll right when they reach here.
Little did we know that this was the calm before the storm because registration was so chaotic and busy. Counties and counties came to us to report scratches and missing. That means we had to make them new ones while updating the system.This process wouldn’t have been so complicated if it wasn’t for the transfer between paper and computer. Some handwritings were not legible enough and lots of information needed clarification.
Though it was tiring, I was glad that we figured things out. We successfully helped the atheles and their team settle in and be ready for the upcoming days. I also received an “award’ from an athlete. She said that we deserve the beautiful pictures that she drew because we were working so hard. 100% made my day, though I think that she and many other athletes overcame so many obstacles just to come here and compete!
In the evening, we had the opening ceremony. Hats off to this event, since Unified Committee put lots of creativy and effort into making it more inclusive. They showcased all Fall Fest sports (as opposed to solely basketball like previous years). They didn’t have basketball players coming in, but they had two teams of committee members and athletes competing in a series of fun sport challenges. I hope this become the new tradition in many opening ceremonies in the future.
Trang "Tee" Nguyen 