February 24, 2014
The part when I actually had to work…

The one regret that I have about my trip is not volunteering from the very beginning to the very end of the Olympics. I felt like one day I was introducing myself saying that it was my first day and then the next I was already saying good bye to all the friends that I made.

All of the volunteers were great. The majority we my age or a few years older. There were some people who older as well. Everyone was super nice and tons of fun no matter how old. Most of the volunteers are in sport management as well. It was really cool to meet other people who were on the same path as me. I didn’t realize that there were others out there. A lot of the volunteers have volunteered at previous olympics and knew each other from before. I can definitely see how this could become addicting. It was so exciting being involved more than just as a spectator yourself. I was fun making other peoples experiences better. Who knows if I can save up enough money I can definitely see myself going to Rio!

My job was always on the access and accreditation, which is a fancy way of saying front desk. Besides the open house, the COH was only open to the athletes and their friends and family and important people associated with the COC, IOC and lots of other big organizations like Hockey Canada. My job was to register and sign in the people who were legit and then listen to everyone else’s story of why they should be let it. Was pretty funny some of the stuff that people came up with. One guy came in with a red helmet, a Canadian flag cape, and a maple leaf shaved into his chest hair and yelled at us “Am I Canadian enough?” It was sad to turn him down. Most of the time it was either Canadian spectators upset they weren’t allowed in or Russians who want to come in. At first I was to easy on them and it took forever to get them out because they couldn’t understand me. By the end I would just say “Het” and make an exit with my arms because that meant no in Russian. Everyone had to pass by us which meant we saw a lot of cool people. The thing is that I probably met a ton of really high up people that I didn’t even realize.

Every shift we got a catered dinner. The food was amazing! Tons of lentil salad, if you know me you know I love lentils! They also had a basket of snacks that was free to take. I don’t think I have eaten the amount of candy and chocolate I consumed this week in the last 3 years (minus Ellie’s halloween candy).

The biggest perk of volunteering though had to be the free tickets. If there were left over tickets after the games or events had started then they would offer them to us. I only expected to go to two event but I was given a free ticket to the women’s Canada vs Switzerland hockey game AND the men’s Canada vs Latvia game! My seat for the mens game was in the 12th row, I could almost smell Sidney Crosby’s sweat.

Overall it was a great experience and I met a ton of awesome people!

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