This year, to welcome new and returning members of the OSC community back to school from our summer break, the SCN or School Community Network hosted a ‘Welcome Back Picnic’ with games, food, and fun for students, their families, and teachers. Events like this tend to be geared toward the primary students, and as a result, the games or events, such as dance, henna, and face painting, cater to them. This year, because of several factors out of my control, I was roped into volunteering as one of the face painters. My whole life, I have loved art, painting, and getting my face painted, so something like this seems like the perfect service for me to volunteer in. The catch, however, is that I am notoriously bad with children in all aspects and, quite frankly, slightly scared of them now. So, having to draw on their face in an unfamiliar medium and subject myself to their criticism is one of my worst nightmares. For this reason, I was unsure about whether I should attempt face painting, but eventually, I committed and decided that it could be enjoyable and, at best, entertaining.
All the volunteers we were given a 30-minute slot of time for which they would have to be at the station to do the painting. When my allotted time came around, there were two other painters hard at work along with me, the only difference being that both these volunteers were much more experienced with children and made the entire experience very interactive for the children. Once I sat down and began working, I tried my best to interact with the kids, asking them what they wanted me to do, their hobbies, and more about what they were like. Even though I was not confident in my ability to entertain the kids, looking back at it, I feel that I did a relatively good job balancing working and conversing to make the experience enjoyable for them.
