Intern Spotlight
Christine Lee
Intern
Lowell
Class of 2019
How has community service impacted your life?
I've always liked helping others, so community service gives me the opportunity to do so. I volunteered for the first time in 8th grade and ever since then, I wanted to volunteer as much as I could. Community service gives me so much joy like no other activity could do. All I want to do is to make a difference in society, whether it be distributing items at marathons or helping manage a station at a carnival/fair. As long as my actions can benefit others, I feel I've accomplished my job.
When did you start volunteering with Heart In Motion?
I first joined Heart in Motion during my freshman orientation in 2015. The day before the orientation, an officer at HIM contacted me about the club and provided me information about it. So when it was time to select which clubs to join at freshman orientation, I knew right away that I was going to join HIM, for it's goals as an organization were similar to my own goals in life: helping others.
What is one of your favorite memories or events from HIM?
An event that stands out when I think about my favorite memories of HIM was the Giants Race. We had to mix the powder of the energy drink with water to create Powerade. That drink and water were to be distributed among the runners passing by. I would shout words of encouragement to the runners while promoting the drink at the same time. Because there were two different drinks being passed out, even though it wasn't a competition, the groups including our own treated it as one. It was fun trying to create Powerade puns and each time they were said out loud, it made some of the runners laugh a little bit, which eased a little bit of the pressure put on them to finish the marathon. Overall, it was nice to help out and in return receive smiles and laughter from the runners.
Which events did you enjoy the most? Why?
Some events I enjoyed were the Nike Women's Marathon, Hot Chocolate Run, and the AIDS Walk. The Nike Women's Marathon was the very first event I attended as a HIM member and gave me a sense of how hard each member works while having fun. Like the saying goes, "work hard, play hard." For the Hot Chocolate Run, we assembled the mugs and poured hot chocolate for the runners. We even received free hot chocolate which was extremely delicious and helped provide us some warmth in the cold weather that day. In the AIDS Walk, we walked around offering refreshments to the people in the area and along the way we bumped into many, many dogs. There was this one dog I was particularly fond of and I talked to its owner about taking care of a dog and learned quite a few things from him. At one point, the person in charge of one of the products asked my friend and I to help her out by taking pictures of the people in the area who were eating the product and wearing cool costumes. When I presented the photos to her, she was filled with joy and extremely pleased with the photos that I took.
Have you volunteered with other community service organizations? How are they different from HIM?
Although I haven't volunteered through other community service organizations, I feel that they are extremely different compared to HIM. HIM is not just a community service organization, rather they are also a family. Everyone treats one another in such a friendly manner. Everyone in this organization is so closely connected and will help anyone in any time of need.
How has your experience been working with HIM?
Since the moment I signed up, I knew volunteering would be tough work but at the end of the day, it would provide happiness to both me and everyone around me as well. People say waking up extremely early for events is a pain, but it never seems to be a problem for me because the moment I wake up, I know I'm going to have a great day helping others. Break times are given in the middle of the shift, but sometimes I don't want to stop and just keep going with the flow because of the amount of progress I've made during the shift. But of course, sometimes you just have to stop, sit down, and rest for a bit to regain some strength.
What's your favorite part about volunteering with HIM?
I just love helping others and because I've done so many events, I joined the Internship program to further expand my knowledge of such an amazing organization. I get to learn the inner-workings of what makes this group so magnificent and successful. HIM is extremely efficient and gets things done. If any questions are to come up, it's not only the officers that can provide the answer but also other interns and that automatically brings a closer bonding to them. Working in the events are so much fun, but once you have friends to work with, that makes the experience even better.
