Make a Difference Day starts with good intentions. Community projects that need volunteers to do work that full-time volunteers cannot accomplish. A few other students and I chose to help the Police Athletic League. The PAL helps underprivileged children, providing activities for them that they would have never had otherwise. One program that was cited was their robotics groups, where children built robots for competitions.

From the beginning, things began to go downhill. The person who was supposed to meet with us was absent, and his replacement tried to fill in the best he could. It honestly seemed like they expected more people to arrive, and the tasks we were given did not align with what the description for the event told. We were not told to bring gloves, but we were then told off for not bringing any. Another volunteer and I weeded a garden, while another group collected rocks so they would not get caught in the lawnmower. After that, most of our time was spent untangling Christmas lights and seeing if they worked. Overall, many of the volunteers expected to do something else. I understand grounds beautification is something that full time volunteers cannot get to. It does serve an important purpose, even if it is rather tiring.

However, the project as a whole could have used some better communication. At multiple parts of the day we were left unsupervised for longer than ten minutes. We were also told we could buy food nearby, but then a few of us found out that the nearest place we could get food was unfeasibly far away. During a discussion held on the way back to Stockton, we all agreed that there were major problems that needed to be addressed with the PAL. Hopefully, they will be resolved the next time they ask for volunteer work. Hopefully this serves as a good warning for the Honors committee that sometimes investigation needs to be done for the sake of volunteer’s time. One bad experience may discourage people from other days of service.