The second round of volunteer recruitment for the wrestling test events held at our school kicked off last June. Once the news was out, everyone started taking passport photos and filling in the various forms.
When we finally got our "little green cards", or volunteer IDs, our orientation began. Each department created its own training program, such as learning foreign languages, the rules of wrestling, and Olympic Games courtesy codes.
The interesting thing is, the training turned out to be popular because every school offered credits. We traded the certificates we received for red stamps on the back of our ID volunteer cards. At least 30 hours were required to enter the next selection round. Just like my other schoolmates, I earned more than 40 stamps. I really liked seeing the little stamps all over my ID card.
The next round was a paper-based test. The bad news was, we didn't know much about what we would be tested on. The good news was, we were told all the questions had been published on the BOCOG website, so we rushed to have a look.
Days later, I found my name on the list of successful applicants on the school bulletin board system. Then, I was interviewed and finally became a test event volunteer. I was assigned as a technical support volunteer assisting public address engineers.
It was not hard to be selected as a volunteer, but schoolmates gave up, either because they were too lazy to listen or attend the training sessions or failed to sit the paper-based exam. I was not sure whether I would be chosen, but I just knew I had to try.
Yang Xiaodan is a 22-year-old senior student from China Agricultural University. She studies veterinary medicine and loves cats. She likes Western pop music, classical music and cross-talk. Her best sport is sprinting.
