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As you all know the Olympic games are coming to London in 2012. Living one and a half hours from London means that this is the best chance for me to go and watch some of the events.The Olympics is a big part of my summer every four years. In 2008 when the games were in Beijing I was up all night just so I could watch the events live on TV, because of the time difference. I have always been into sport and love participating in any sporting event. I would say that I’m pretty good at most sports but I have never excelled in one individual sport to an Olympic level so I would never be able to attend as an athlete.
Anyway, tickets are on sale now but you have to go through a ballot system which means you apply for tickets and if you are selected then you can purchase them. If you are not selected then you can’t go. I’m not sure weather I like the idea but I suppose it is the fairest way for everybody.
I don’t just want to attend the Olympics though, I want to be a part of it and for it to be something major in my life history. The best way for me to be in the thick of it is to be a volunteer. I applied for a ‘Games Maker’ position back in September 2010 along with 250,000 other people. I didn’t get my hopes up too much as that is a lot of people and there are only 70,000 positions to fill.
On Tuesday 22nd March 2011 I received an email stating that I had been selected for an ‘in-person’ interview. Out of 250,000 applicants only 100,000 people were successful in being interviewed. This is a real achievement for me and I snapped up the chance to head to the London Excel centre for my interview on Sunday 27th March 2011 at 12.30pm.
It was with some excitement that I left the house to head up to London. The journey was a nightmare. I arrived at London Victoria Train Station at 11.15, which gave me 1.15hrs to get across London. ‘Loads of time’ you say! Well as it was a Sunday the underground was closed for engineering work in many places and I had to get a ticket. It took me 30 minutes to get a ticket as there were so many people queuing up to do the same. I then had to get off the underground and head to the Bus stop. The bus then took 25 minutes to get to ‘Tower Gateway’ where I then still had another 20 minutes on the DLR train to the Excel Centre. I ended up being 20 minutes late for my interview and I thought I had blown my chance of becoming a volunteer.
I walked up to the Registration all sweaty and red faced and explained what had happened. They seemed very chilled out about it and put me in the next time slot group. I then had my passport checked to confirm my identity and was then given a blue wristband. I then continued to the next desk where my passport was photocopied and my photo taken (for my ID if I was eventually successful as a Games Maker). After this I was sent to the display area where I meet some people from the Accreditation Team and some other hopeful applicants.
We then had a 20 minute PowerPoint presentation to find out what being a volunteer was all about and for the team members to get to know us as individuals. We then went into the cinema room and sat down to a short film and messages from Lord Sebastian Coe and Eddie Izzard. We then continued to the interview Pods for a 30 minute interview.
I was in Pod 19 with an interviewer called Rob. The questions were basic and what I had expected. As quickly as it started it was over and I was shown out to the message board and shop. I signed the board with ‘Every Journey starts with ONE step! Good luck everyone’.
I will find out my fate of being an Olympic volunteer in October 2011, and if accepted there will be a series of training and testing events to make sure we all know what we are doing when the Olympics start next year.
Are any of you volunteering or have you in previous Olympics?
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