Beep, beep, beep! How I despise the noise the alarm clock makes. I smashed the snooze button to shut off the contraption. I had waken up much earlier than I usually did on Saturdays, but for a good reason though. Today I was going to participate in the Arizona Rock and Roll Paint a’ Thon with my school’s Interact club, as part of the National Make A Difference Day. Although, I’m not sure as to why it’s called the “Rock and Roll” paint a’ thon, if there was no music. In a flash, I quickly threw on some black gym shorts, an old dark blue t-shirt which I found in the back of my closet, and some old tennis shoes. After arriving at the school, I walked into the classroom where everyone was waiting for the others to arrive. After half an hour, we began to load up the mini bus up with shovels, clippers, buckets of paint, paint rollers, and a couple of bags of fertilizer. Of course I was still tired, so I slept on the trip to the house we would be painting.
The bus made a screeching noise, as it pulled up to a quaint little blue and white stucco house. Newspapers covered the windows, the hedges were overgrown, and there was trash scattered throughout the yard. Ramen noodle cups littered a corner of the yard. This house was smaller than the house from the previous year. Yet, I still thought to myself, “This is going to take a lot of work.” As we stepped out of the bus, we were greeted by an old woman. She flashed a smile so huge, that the wrinkles on her face seemed to stretch out completely, and revealed every tooth in her mouth. She looked like some character conjured up by Doctor Seuss. She was very appreciative that we were volunteering our time to do this for her, especially since it was a Saturday morning, and on the day of the homecoming dance. Once we got to work, I began painting the side of the house with a roller, which we were not supposed to be doing, as stucco houses are supposed to be sprayed. We fixed it the following Saturday. I spent the rest of the day trimming, holding ladders, and painting. Others planted flowers and removed weeds.
After working in the sun for a couple of hours, we were ready to head home. The house ended up looking much nicer than it had before. It was a fun experience, and her gratitude towards us, made it worth all our effort. Plus the feeling of accomplishment you receive out of doing good, is absolutely amazing to me. There’s no better feeling. Even though I went to the dance with slight sunburn, I was fine with it. It’s important that people know there are still others who care. I can’t wait to do it again next year and make a difference.