The First Attempt at Service Day

Esther Ko                                                                 

“What are we doing?”

“I don’t know,” says Lydia Him (12).

“Guys, what are we supposed to do right now?”

“I don’t know, to be honest,” says Nicholas Khor (12) as he shrugs.

In the midst of the rowdy confusion, the crowd of students stands under the shade, awaiting instructions that seem to never come. Everyone appears lifeless and exhausted from the intense two hours of service at various locations, but the places the students served at emit a gentle glow—a glow of warmth, gratitude, and joy. Playing Bingo with the elderly people at the old folks home, painting buildings, singing and performing magic tricks for the children at the hospital, and crafting cards for the bedridden—the high schoolers have successfully delivered their kindness to the people in the Penang community.

After a long morning of service, the high schoolers gather with the excited middle school students, ready to launch into another afternoon of activities. The delicious lunch and desserts prepared by fellow high school students help them stay awake and alive for the next three hours of running, spitting M&M’s, and listening to testimonies.

The long wait finally ends. After receiving instructions about the final MEW event, the high school students scatter to their designated locations, the seniors huddling together with their team of middle school students to come up with irrelevant team names. With thirteen stations set up all around the campus, the students take off on their competition, most of them still unsure what the event actually is.

For the rest of the afternoon, the students breeze through each station with dreamy, out-of-focus eyes, the high schoolers zoning in and out of reality as sleepiness simmers in after a long morning of work, but the middle school students’ energy keeps them moving. One bizarre station after another, the teams swiftly finish each challenge the station has to offer, from spinning in circles with a bat held up to their forehead to spitting M&M’s as far as they can.

Halfway through the event, the teams are rallied together in the gym for a series of games involving student stampedes and a poor, helpless student in the middle responsible for tagging anyone running across the gym. Once the pandemonium finally ends, the students finish off their day with a series of testimonies under the comfort of the air conditioners, and with a tired but dreamy smile, the students thank each other and return to their homes.

It’s a day well spent.