Friday, July 23, 2004

A nervous smirk
Posted by behradmahdi@yahoo.com"> at 9:55 PM -

It's about 10 o'clock here in Volunteer Headquarters and I've finally got a few seconds to sit and take a breather.  Walking down the hallways, running into volunteers, staff, and others, everyone has a nervous smirk on their faces.  We're all thinking about one thing:  we're all about to play a role, in whatever capacity we can, in a historic event.

After finishing school this past spring, I knew I wanted to be a part of this event.  Born and raised in Ohio, I thought coming out to Boston was going to be a daunting and difficult task.  In fact it's been the opposite.  Volunteering here has introduced me to some wonderful people, all of whom want to make this event memorable and exciting. 

I've been working in the Volunteer department here at Boston 2004, the host committee for the Democratic Convention for the past month.  Scheduling, registering, and training 8,000 volunteers has certainly been challenging to say the least.  But what has really made everything work here has been the patience and understanding of the volunteers.  And while I am certainly excited for the events, the speakers, and the nomination, I think I'm more eager for the hundreds of volunteers I'll be meeting from all over the world. 

All in all, I'm psyched and happy to be sharing my experiences with all of you. Hopefully, I'll get to tell you all about the people I'll be meeting.

-- Behrad Mahdi

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