The East Cobb Branch of AYLUS volunteered at Kincaid’s annual Fun Run on Saturday, October 20, 2018 for 4 hours, helping the PE teachers and the enrichment teachers set up the place for the race, cheer the kids on during the race, and clean up after the race.
We went to Kincaid at 6:00 in the morning to help set up the race. Finish line triangle flags that would signal the children in the race that they were getting closer and closer to the finish line by the moment were to be hung in strings which were wrapped around cones and tree branches. We helped the enrichment teachers unroll bundles of the triangular flag strings and helped them untangle it, stretch it, and circle loops out of it around those safety cones and tree branches.
Towards the end of the preparation period, there was especially this one bundle of flags that were not cooperative at all. We were trying to look for one end of the stringing, but when we were trying to find that, as we pulled more and more string slowly out of the bundle, the string of flags became all tangled up, and untangling it became extremely hard. But bit by bit, by working together as a team, we loosened some parts of the mess and as more and more parts became loosened, untangling the heap of chaos became swifter and easier.
Near 7:00, children and their parents started filtering into the parking lot and in front of the school building. As the children were warming up, the music teacher played music through the loud speakers. Around 7:30, the first wave of older children got ready to run their 1K on Kincaid Road. For this time, Nick Vincent was cheering for them and clapping for them while Selina Huang and Susanna Huang motivated the children by running alongside with them. Susanna Huang was cheering on a little boy that began the race in last place, but Susanna Huang encouraged him and cheered him on, so that when all the other children were pausing for a break, he continued. When all the other children were walking or stopping, he continued. Susanna Huang kept telling him that no matter what, do not stop because he had already caught up to 1/3 of the people who were slowing down. If he stopped now, all of his efforts would go to waste because people would surpass him again. Susanna Huang kept telling him that he could do it and that he would make it, and when he saw the string of flags floating between trees and hung on fences, marking the nearing end of the race to the finish line, he bolted towards the end.
“That was the most tiring experience I ever had since 8th grade”, Susanna Huang said, she almost forgot what it was like to be tired. By the end of the day, by thighs were sore. Then, after the older kids finished the 1K, soon the 3K for those older students began promptly. This time, all three of East Cobb members were standing on the sidelines cheering people on and encouraging them. There was a point in time when you could not see any of the racers anywhere because they ran so far down the road and over a hill which was obscured behind tree branches that you could not tell where they were or how fast they were running. Soon, though, they came racing back towards the finish line.
There was one child running back that was so close to the indicating string of flags, but he had completely stopped and was partly sobbing because of how tired and hot he was. His father who was running beside him to encourage him decided to cool him down by pouring water on his head and using a jacket as a make-shift fan. The choice to help and encourage his son, reassuring him and telling him that everything was alright is much more supportive than others. There was one parent that completely gave up and decided to simply carry their child on their back to the finish line. How are the children going to learn how to stand strong and persevere if parents do that to their children, leaving them no chance to fend for themselves? Exactly: They can’t.
After the older kids were done, the younger kids: K-3 were now up. When Mr. Furr, the PE teacher led them down the road, it almost seemed like he was leading a group of baby ducklings down a road towards their destiny, their inevitable, bright future. When they were coming back up the hill to the finish line, many were slowing down or stopping. We would then encourage them, saying that the finish line was right there. The strung flags stood as proof for our words, and they would regain motivation and charge into the parking lot, towards the finish line.
After all the children left with their parents with the ribbons given out, East Cobb members began gently taking down the stung flags and gently staking cones on top of each other. “As I was told to bring the heap of flags back to the gym, I walked slowly through the corridors” Susanna Huang recalled. “So much has changed. Ever since I was in 5th grade myself, so much has changed. The restrooms were so much more positive and they were decorated while they were bare in the past. Outside of each classroom there was a miniature flag with the teacher’s name on it, indicating which class it was. As I gazed around, memories washed over me and nostalgia returned. I was so happy to be back there again, serving the younger ones as high schoolers once did for me”. Susanna Huang said. All East Cobb members were happy to volunteer for the generations of the future, just like the past high schoolers did as we were returning the favor we had once received with benevolence.
Attendance: Susanna Huang(4 hours), Selina Huang(4 hours), Nick Vincent(4 hours)
Reported by: Susanna Huang
